FORT BARFOOT, Va. –
Fort Barfoot officially broke ground on a new Morale, Welfare and Recreation Center during a ceremony Dec. 13, 2024, marking the latest in a series of efforts to improve MWR amenities and events on the installation.
Col. James C. Shaver Jr., the Fort Barfoot garrison commander, led the groundbreaking ceremony, and was joined by retired Lt. Col. Tom Barfoot, installation namesake Col. Van T. Barfoot’s oldest son, and Roger Nicholls, husband to Margaret Nicholls, the installation namesake’s daughter. Also participating was Stephen Bowen, the Nottoway County administrator.
The new MWR Center will be a multi-purpose, 4,000-square-foot facility which will be open to Virginia National Guard Soldiers as well as other services and components training at the installation. Amenities included in the new center will be wireless internet access, flat screen televisions, pool and air hockey tables, arcade games, a mezzanine with lounge seating and a quiet room for studying. It will be situated next to the post's existing Leisure Center.
“We’ve been talking about and working on increasing and expanding the MWR opportunities here on Fort Barfoot for a while,” said Shaver. “There’s been a lot of progress. This will be the site of our multi-purpose MWR building. It’ll be a recreational facility with games and TVs, and it’s been a long time coming. We appreciate everyone who was involved in making this happen.”
“When units are not training, they should be entertaining in cantonment,” said Maj. Brian Eromenok, Fort Barfoot’s director of Personnel and Community Activities. “Barfoot currently offers few amenities to support service members and their physiological needs by providing a facility that will allow camaraderie, and access to the internet to support personal and professional development.”
Inspiration for the new facility started thousands of miles away at Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo, where the current Fort Barfoot executive officer, Lt. Col. James Wells, was recently deployed. Wells took note of Camp Bondsteel’s MWR facility and immediately thought Fort Barfoot and the troops who train there needed a similar facility.
“It’s exciting for the troops, because the constant complaint we get here is ‘there’s nothing to do,’” said Wells. “The reality is the Soldiers need a place to recreate instead of just sitting on their bunks. We saw the value when were deployed, and when Soldiers come here to train, it’s kind of like they’re deployed. They don’t get to go off post, they don’t get to go home.”
The groundbreaking was made even more meaningful with the inclusion of Tom Barfoot, who said he enjoys seeing the improvements on the installation.
“I’d like to thank Col. Shaver and everyone for inviting us down here for this,” said Barfoot. “I feel like I’m keeping an eye on dad and watching this place grow up. This is where he shipped out to World War II.”
In addition to the new MWR Center, Fort Barfoot has made other efforts to improve MWR on the installation. The Barfoot Theater recently received major upgrades allowing it to host movie nights. The base gymnasium also recently underwent nearly $500,000 in renovations, funded by revenue generated by the installation’s recycling program.
In addition to the facilities, Fort Barfoot has hosted a series of MWR-focused events over the last few years, including “paddle parties” at the Barfoot Reservoir and Turkey Trot 5K races leading into the Thanksgiving holiday. The installation is also now offering kayak rentals, and recently made significant improvements to the Joy Nature Trail.
“Paddle Parties and Turkey Trots are espirit de corps events to establish some baseline of interactive MWR activities to look forward to on Fort Barfoot,” said Eromenok. “These events, along with the addition of Blackstone Fireworks at Blackstone Army Air Field, will continue to endure as annual events and become more robust.”
Read more about Fort Barfoot at https://vngpao.info/2p8kwcw6.