WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), a former member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the most senior Marine in the U.S. Congress, today released the following statement on the U.S. Army’s announcement to reduce troop numbers and force positioning at Fort Riley and Fort Leavenworth:

“The communities surrounding Ft. Riley and Ft. Leavenworth can be very proud. They helped convince the Army to retain such strong numbers when major cuts are being made across the country. Kansans have once again shown they provide our military with the best support anywhere in this nation. Compared overall, Kansas cuts amount to less than two percent of the overall national reduction, reflecting the valuable role both forts serve for the Army and national security. The grassroots efforts we have seen have in both communities were key to preventing more drastic cuts.”

“I am proud of the men and women who serve at all of our military installations, and I’m even prouder still of how Kansas has embraced the armed forces and their place in our communities.”

The Army announced that Ft. Riley will lose 615 troops and Ft. Leavenworth will lose only 60 troops.

Senator Roberts attended the Army listening sessions in February in Junction City and led delegation efforts to submit comments for the record last year regarding both Ft. Leavenworth and Ft. Riley.

Senator Roberts was frequently in touch with his friend and former colleague, Army Secretary John McHugh, on the merits of each post and the ongoing process for the Army’s force structure decisions.

Roberts played an integral role in developing Ft. Riley to be the nation’s best training ground for soldiers. He fought to improve the Fort’s schools, hospitals, barracks and training capabilities. In 2005, following a Base Realignment and Closure round, the First Infantry Division Headquarters and Support Battalion were returned to Fort Riley.

Anticipating the 2005 BRAC, Roberts also fought to improve the intellectual center of the Army, the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. Roberts secured the funding to replace Bell Hall with the Lewis and Clark Center, a state of the art facility where the Army has its Combined Arms Center. This investment is still critical today. The Army is expected to soon announce that Fort Leavenworth will earn the title of “Army University.”

The Army University concept solidifies education as a core value in the Army. By rebalancing education, training, and experience across the leader development triad to support developing agile, adaptive, and innovative soldiers, civilians, and leaders prepared to win in a complex world. The Army University will increase soldier competence, character, and commitment.

The US Army Command and General Staff College educates, trains and develops leaders for Unified Land Operations in a Joint, Interagency, Intergovernmental, and Multinational operational environment; and advances the art and science of the profession of arms in support of Army operational requirements. For more, go here.

Since coming to the Senate in 1996, Senator Roberts has worked tirelessly on behalf of Kansas’ military installations and their communities to see that the nation’s men and women in uniform have a better quality of life and the tools to fulfill their mission to protect and defend the United States.

In making the announcements today, the Army has concluded its Force Structure and Stationing Decision Process. The Army was studying ways to reduce overall personnel strength affecting both military and civilian positions. Should sequestration not be repealed, the Army had announced it will be forced to reduce end strength to 420,000 soldiers by 2019. Fort Riley and Fort Leavenworth are two of 30 Army installations across the U.S. facing possible troop reductions.

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