Gov. Deal Recommends $10 Million for Military Academic Center in Warner Robins

WARNER ROBINS, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Governor Nathan Deal’s proposed budget will include $10 million for a military “gateway center” in Warner Robins.

The facility would focus on military outreach, training and education for civilian jobs. John Millsaps, Associate Vice Chancellor with Georgia Board of Regents said Hank Huckaby, the University System of Georgia’s chancellor, proposed the plan for the school back in August. Huckaby asked Governor Deal to consider it and he did.

“We feel like it has a lot of potential for the military and how we provide services,” Millsaps said, “it will provide them with flexibility to achieve an academic goal.”

Millsaps describes the one-of-a-kind center as a “blended effort between the Technical College System and the University System of Georgia”. The school will offer technical and academic classes. It’s all apart of larger effort, Millsaps said, to get reach Deal’s Complete College Georgia initiative and get more Georgians to graduate with college degrees.

Middle Georgia State College Interim President Dr. John Black believes the proposed budget will make it past the state legislature. He said this is the second facility of its kind requested by the Board of Regents, but the governor did not recommend the first one.

“Governor Deal is behind this, and that’s always a good sign,” Black said.

Warner Robins Mayor Chuck Shaheen and Black are supporting the plan all the way. Shaheen and Warner Robins City Council members are looking at land for the project now. This weekend, they will travel to Atlanta for the annual Mayor’s Conference where they plan to discuss the center even further.