The National Guard was first organized in Tompkinsville in 1948, when members of the Kentucky Lions Club and other organizations helped start it with approximately 25 men, including many who were veterans of World War II. The first man was enlisted in July 1948, and the unit was federally recognized in October 1948 as Battery C, 198th Field Artillery. In November, the unit was redesignated Battery A, 623rd Field Artillery Battalion. Battery A served in the Korean War.
"Battery A, 623rd Field Artillery Battalion was ordered into federal service on January 23,1951 at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, and ordered to foreign duty with the United Nations Forces in Korea. They left the United States from San Francisco on December 4, 1951. The unit participated in four campaigns during the Korean War and received the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the U.S. Navy Unit Commendation."
Battery A was split into two separate groups during the Korean conflict. One of these sections was deactivated in March of 1955 while the other was deactivated in 1952. In January of 1953 the unit was reactivated and used the MVSB as their armory. The unit was reorganized several times between 1953 and 1968, but has been designated Battery A, 1/623rd Field Artillery since May 1969. Battery A was most recently activated for Desert Storm, where they supported elements of the 18th Airborne Corps during the ground offensive. The Guard also served with the 7th Corps and were part of the 196th Field Artillery Brigade. The entire 1/623rd Field Artillery Battalion served in Desert Storm.
On December 5, 1990, the unit was alerted to prepare for activation for Operation Desert Storm. The Mobilization Advance Party, consisting mainly of officers was called to report on December 6, with the remaining members of the Guard reporting on December 7. On December 9 the unit was officially activated. On the tenth of December, the unit left Tompkinsville for Fort Campbell, where they began processing for deployment to Saudi Arabia. On the way to Fort Campbell, the unit stopped in Glasgow for a going-away party. The unit had three days off in December to spend with their families, and on December 26, they began loading up their equipment and vehicles to leave for Saudi Arabia. Before the unit left Tompkinsville for the war, a wedding took place at the armory.
On May 6, 1991, the men returned from Desert Storm and were greeted with a Homecoming Parade in downtown Tompkinsville. A barbeque was held for the men at Old Mulkey Meeting House State Park, sponsored by the Family Support Group. In all, the 1/623rd had approximately 455 men participate in Desert Storm. There were no casualties in the entire battalion.
Besides overseas duty, the National Guard in Tompkinsville has participated in many state active duty missions, including active duty in a Letcher County labor dispute, assisting the Kentucky State Police in maintaining order from April 24 to May 2, 1959. The unit was also called for state active duty in Louisville from May 28-June 3, 1968, where they helped the Kentucky State Police in maintaining order during racial disturbances. More recent state active duty missions include flood duty in Smithland, Kentucky (Livingston County) in 1997, and guard duty during the Kentucky Derby.
In addition to state active duties, the Guard has participated in many community activities, including color guards in Christmas parades in Tompkinsville, Burkesville, and Edmonton, the Watermelon Festival, Veterans Day festivities in Monroe County, the Barbeque Festival at Fountain Run, Kentucky, and Riverboat Days in Burkesville. The Tompkinsville high school used rooms in the armory for classrooms, and the gym was used for home basketball games until 1962.
Prior to the current armory and the MVSB, the National Guard met in a rented commercial building located at 602 Magnolia Street. The MVSB was completed in 1950 and served as a combination motor storage building and armory until the current armory was completed in 1960. Construction began on the new armory in September 1959 and it was completed and dedicated on August 12, 1960. Although not eligible at this time, in approximately ten years, if the armory still maintains most of its original materials (especially the wooden floor), it will be eligible for the National Register.
The current armory is the second to be constructed in Tompkinsville; the first building was constructed in 1950 at 705 Monroe Drive and was a combination armory and Motor Vehicle Storage Building (MVSB). Before occupying this building, the Guard rented a commercial building located at 602 Magnolia Street. The MVSB was used until 1960, when the current armory was completed. The MVSB is still used for storage and maintenance, and it is owned by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The armory maintains many of its original features, including the original hardwood floor, which is different from others in that it is composed of wood blocks laid with the short end up, unlike other wooden floors which are typically composed of wooden boards.
Tompkinsville Motor Vehicle Service Building The Tompkinsville MVSB is a painted concrete block building with metal garage doors at either end of the building. The building is about one-and-a-half stories tall with a gable-front metal roof. The building has small multi-light casement windows embedded with chicken wire high up on the wall on two sides of the building. The front and rear of the building each have a door and window on one side of the garage door, and two smaller square vents above the garage door. At the front of the building, just inside the door, is a small office with an intact and original coal-burning stove. This office has a dropped acoustic tile ceiling. On the interior of the building, there is a concrete floor and the original metal-truss roof is intact. Offices are defined by concrete block walls, and a brick vault was added at some point (before 1960). Original wooden doors lead into the offices and latrine. Many of these have their original hardware. Many of the suspended light fixtures in the MVSB are also original. The interior of the building is mainly open space.
Photos and information courtesy Kentucky Heritage Council -- Report No. 25" Inventory and Evaluation of National Guard Armories in the State of Kentucky" - 1999 by Kate Carothers.