Kentucky: National Guard History eMuseum

The Kentucky National Guard armory at Buechel was originally built for and still houses four companies. The 198th Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment have been in Buechel since May 1, 1974, and were there until October 1, 1990, when the unit was consolidated with the 223rd Military Police Company. In May of 1995, the 198th Military Police Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment was reinstated and they have been there ever since. Before it was the 198th MP Battalion, the company was a field artillery unit, headquartered at Bowman Field. This unit traces its lineage to May, 1914, when it was first organized as Company M, 1st Infantry, and was stationed in Richmond, Kentucky. The unit was reorganized and moved to other cities over the years, and for a long time, the unit was the 198th Field Artillery Battalion. The 138th Artillery and 138th Field Artillery was also located in Louisville for a number of years before the 198th Military Police Battalion was organized.

The 198th MP Battalion serves as the Headquarters unit for two line companies: the 223rd Military Police Company, also located at Buechel, and the 438th Military Police Company, located in Murray. The 198th is credited with service during World War I, World War II, Vietnam, and the Gulf War/Desert Storm.

The 198th MP Battalion was consolidated with the 223rd MP Company in September, 1990, and in December, 1990, the unit received an order to mobilize for active duty. An advanced party of men was sent to Fort Campbell for training. Shortly afterward, the rest of the company joined them, where they received instructions before starting training. The men trained in personnel processing, weapons qualifications, and received specialized training for chemical warfare. After the men passed the training qualification, they readied their equipment for transport overseas.

The company flew into Saudi Arabia (a rear detachment stayed behind with the equipment), and upon arrival, they were processed and assigned to a unit. The men arrived the day before the air war began, and four days later they were assigned to a prisoner of war (POW) site in the desert. A month after the air war ended, the ground war began and the men started receiving and processing prisoners. When the war ended, the prisoners were debriefed and sent back to their native countries. The 223rd flew back to Ft. Campbell after spending 57 days abroad. At Ft. Campbell they were processed out and returned home at the end of May, after serving approximately six months. (Interview with Sgt. Lee Curry, May 26, 1998)

Besides their service in Desert Storm, the 198th MP Battalion and 223rd MP Company have participated in state active duties such as the state-wide truckers strike of 1974, desegregation riots in Louisville in 1975, tornadoes in Northern Kentucky and Bullitt County in 1995, snow duty during the storms of 1996 and 1998, when they transported medical personnel and dialysis patients, and flood duty in Falmouth, Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky during 1997. The Guard also provides security at Louisville's Churchill Downs every Derby Day, at the Bluegrass Games in Lexington, and at Riverfest in Covington and Newport.

Company D, 1/123rd Armor, with headquarters at Ft. Knox, is also stationed at Buechel . Company D was first organized on October 1, 1990, at the Louisville Fairgrounds armory. Company D is a new unit, so their history is brief. They have never been overseas, and did not serve in Desert Storm. The unit stores their tanks at Ft. Knox, not in the armory's motor pool. The unit participated in state active duties in 1996 (snow duty), 1997 (flood duty), and snow duty again in 1998. Besides Buechel, the other 1/123rd Armor companies are located in Leitchfield, Brandenburg, and Shelbyville. All of these units are fairly new in the state, having been formed within the past ten years.

Some of the vehicles and equipment parked behind the Buechel armory were used in Vietnam when the Field Artillery unit was in Buechel. Besides the motor pool and the OMS shop, a cold storage building is located behind the armory.

This armory is in an industrial area of Buechel, a Louisville suburb. The armory is a one-story, rectangular red brick building with a two-story drill hall rising behind the main block of the building. The Buechel Armory is one of two current armories in Jefferson county. The Louisville armory is located at the Fairgrounds off Crittenden Drive. Before these two armories were constructed, there were at least two other armories located in Louisville. The first armory (now Louisville Gardens), was built in 1905, and was the largest armory built in Kentucky. Another armory was constructed in St. Matthews, and was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1942. This building is now owned by Trinity High School. The National Guard also used buildings at Bowman Field, which served as state headquarters before the current Boone National Guard Center was constructed in Frankfort. The Buechel armory was built to replace the St. Matthews Armory, but was still used until 1970, when it was sold to the City of St. Matthews.