Va. base to be home for embassy training center

Members of Virginia’s congressional delegation say Fort Pickett will be the home of a training center for U.S. diplomatic personnel assigned to high-threat areas around the globe.

The announcement was made Thursday by the Obama administration. The Fort Pickett facility will be called the Foreign Affairs Security Training Center.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe says the center will provide training for up to 10,000 students annually. He said the General Services Administration has said the center will create hundreds of jobs and bring federal investment to rural Nottoway County.

Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner said the 2012 deaths in Benghazi and threats to U.S. embassies around the world underscore the need for the training center.

Besides Virginia’s U.S. senators, U.S. Reps. Randy Forbes and Robert Hurt delivered the announcement.

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