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Transcribed oral history interview with Rob Newman a member of the National Guard Unit that was stationed in the Worthington Minnesota Armory. File contains spiral bound and unbound transcribed interview, signed release agreement and notes. Interview was conducted by Barbara W. Sommer.

INTERVIEW DATE: August 6, 2020 & February 18, 2021

RECORDING MEDIUM: digital audio, MP4

INTERVIEW LENGTH: 58:27 & 1:22:15

TECHNICAL NOTES: The interview was recorded remotely using Zoom, a web-based video conferencing tool. during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was transcribed by Lois Glewwe, project transcriber.

INTERVIEW NOTES: Rob Newman was the first person interviewed for this project and did a second interview at the end of the project. He was glad to start it off and to talk about the National Guard in Worthington and his career in the Guard and glad to do a second interview for the project. Rob Newman served in the National Guard from 1986-2014 and from 1986-1991 was assigned to A Company's 2nd Battalion, 47th "Viking" Division, 135th Infantry; from 1991-2014 in the 34th "Red Bull" Division. He was employed by the National Guard and was one of the last people to work full-time in the Armory before it closed. He recorded both his interviews at his home computer in Wilmont, Minnesota.

SUMMARY OF INTERVIEW CONTENT: Rob Newman described enlisting in the National Guard, basic training in infantry at Fort Benning, Georgia, and Advanced Infantry Training, school at Fort Lewis, Washington, field artillery training in Norway, his duties as a National Guard unit administrator, the Armory building before it was de-commissioned, weekend duty preparation and assignments, National Guard community involvement, the call-out of the National Guard for the Hormel strike in Austin, Minnesota (1985), for the Red River flood (1997), and to help with a tornado in Chandler, Minnesota (1992), use of the Armory for weather emergencies, deployment of Worthington Army Reserve units for Desert Storm, his deployment with the National Guard in Luverne, Minnesota, to Kuwait (2011-2012), deployment to Lakenheath Royal Air Force Base in England, the decision to close the Armory, closing the Armory, re-assignment of Worthington National Guard members, his reassignment to the Armory in Luverne, and his retirement from the National Guard.

In the second interview, Rob Newman discussed the time period when the Worthington Armory was a battalion headquarters, referring to it as the "heyday" of strength of the Armory, the histories of the 34th "Red Bull" and 47th "Viking" Infantry Divisions and transitioning from one to the other in 1991, downsizing of the military, including the National Guard in the early 1990s, cold weather training and the ongoing Norway exchange program, the ripple impact of the closing of the Worthington Armory on the National Guard at Worthington, the Vietnam and post-Vietnam years and their impacts on the National Guard, his deployment from the Luverne (MN) Armory to Kuwait toward the end of his service in the National Guard, full-time employees in the Worthington National Guard, community uses including gymnastics at the Worthington Armory, the location of the draft board meetings in the Armory Club Room during the Vietnam War, the location of the Civil Air Patrol offices in the Armory, use of the Armory for emergency services, and the World War II service of former Worthington High School teacher, Alan Swanson, with Colonel Darby of Darby's Rangers in World War II.

This transcript was made possible by Legacy funding from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund established by the vote of Minnesotans on November 4, 2008, and administered by the Minnesota Historical Society. Funding was awarded to the Nobles County Historical Society through the following grant: R-MHCG-1912-24013 | $9,950 | MN Historical and Cultural

The Minnesota National Guard in Worthington, Minnesota Oral History Project. This oral history project focused on interviews with former members of the Minnesota National Guard in Nobles County who served from the Worthington National Guard Armory building.

Contact the Nobles County Historical Society for more information