Cass County Board: Camp Ripley official updates county on 2020 activities
Camp Ripley plans to host its annual fall open house the second weekend of September, which was canceled last year due to COVID-19.
Written By:
Kyndra Johnson | Cass County Correspondent | 4:00 am, May 6, 2021 ×
Cass County Courthouse
BACKUS Brig. Gen. Lowell Kruse presented the 2021 Camp Ripley annual update on the Army National Guard facility’s activities to Cass County commissioners Tuesday, May 4.
The 2020 Ripley payroll saw an increase to $61,969,063 due mainly to the increased amount of soldiers on active duty during 2020. Its total 2020 expenditures were $93,594,014.
Kruse stated that even with the challenges of COVID-19 during 2020, Camp Ripley was still able to host some training with more being planned coming up. Camp Ripley is promoting its cold weather training. This past winter, the camp hosted a winter dive school training for the United States Coast Guard. The
COVID-19, civil unrest make for busy year at Camp Ripley
Hundreds of soldiers assisted in community testing and vaccine clinics for COVID-19 as well as support during times of civil unrest in Minnneapolis. 2:00 am, May 5, 2021 ×
Brig. Gen. Lowell Kruse, senior commander at Camp Ripley, presented his yearly update to the Brainerd City Council Monday, May 3, 2021. Theresa Bourke / Brainerd Dispatch
Troops at Camp Ripley spent much of the last year helping out their communities, from monitoring civil unrest in the Twin Cities to supporting COVID-19 testing to aiding in vaccine distribution.
And according to Brig. Gen. Lowell Kruse, that’s exactly what the Minnesota National Guard training facility is all about.