ANDOVER, KS – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts today sent letters, signed by the Kansas congressional delegation, to Secretary of the Army John McHugh and General Raymond Odierno, Army Chief of Staff, to fight potential cuts to personnel and operations at Ft. Riley and Ft. Leavenworth as a result of the Army’s planned Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Assessment (SPEA).

“We have circled the wagons and are making a very compelling and clear case to the Army that both Ft. Leavenworth and Ft. Riley are unique and tremendous assets to our national security, the Army, their communities and the state as a whole,” Roberts said. “We will fight any ill-considered cuts to operations or personnel at our Kansas posts at every opportunity.”

At issue is the Army’s planned Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Assessment (SPEA). This assessment will determine force reductions at Army installations around the country. There is a public comment period until August 25, 2014. Kansans can go here to submit comments. SPEA Cuts would not take place until October, 2015.

Thursday, August 13, Roberts will hold a town hall meeting in Leavenworth to discuss this and other issues, followed by a town hall meeting in Junction City on Saturday, August 16. For details on the meetings, go here and here.

Senator Roberts was joined by U.S. Senator Jerry Moran, Rep. Tim Huelskamp, Rep. Lynn Jenkins, Rep. Kevin Yoder and Rep. Mike Pompeo in sending the letters dated today, August 13, 2014.

Senator Roberts, the most senior Marine in the Congress, was a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee during the last major Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) in 2005. Anticipating the 2005 BRAC, Senator Roberts worked to ensure Kansas’ military installations had what they needed to provide relevant and ready forces for the nation’s defense. Kansas was rewarded with the return of the division Headquarters of the Big Red One to Ft. Riley. Through Senator Roberts’ hard work, the intellectual center of the Army, the Command and Staff General College remained at Ft. Leavenworth in the new and improved Lewis and Clark Center.

In 2005, Roberts and a dedicated team of state and local officials demonstrated to the Department of Defense that Kansas installations not only fulfilled critical missions, but they also are enthusiastically supported by their communities and the state.

“We will continue to remind the Army of the investments it has made to Ft. Riley and Ft. Leavenworth and of the payoff we see in the soldiers we train to be mission ready for whatever national security threat we face. But just as important, we will remind them of our communities who embrace the posts and the men and women in uniform and their families,” Roberts said. “Simply put, Kansas is the best home to the Army.”

The text of the letters are pasted below, or can be found here and here.

Dear Mr. Secretary and General Odierno,

We appreciate your consideration of our comments on the Army's Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Assessment (SPEA) as it pertains to Fort Riley, Kansas.

Over the last decade, Fort Riley has continued to grow and modernize despite a changing military and shrinking budget. To see the recent success of Fort Riley, one only needs to look at the return of the 1st Infantry Division from Germany in 2006. Since the return of the 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley has continued to be one of the most deployed units in the Army, and one of the most respected. This was a critical move for the service men and women at Fort Riley, for the base and for the surrounding community. It has provided the state and local communities with economic stability and secured Fort Riley as a major force in the Army for years to come.

Fort Riley and the 1st Infantry Division share a proud history with the United States Army. Today, that relationship continues to evolve with numerous combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as developing partnerships in Africa through the 1^st Infantry Division's Regionally Aligned Force (RAF) construct under AFRICOM. This emergent mission is of significant importance to the Army. RAF assists African countries in stopping a growing fundamentalist movement across the continent while concurrently developing professional militaries among African countries. By ensuring host nation’s ability to provide security, the RAF mission aims to decrease future needs for U.S. forces to mitigate threats in the region.

Fort Riley rests on 159 square miles to provide the Army with over 92,000 acres of usable training area with minimal encroachment issues. This location was designed to provide direct access from the cantonment area to over 72,000 acres of Heavy Maneuver training area, including over 129 miles of tank and maneuver trails, nearly 4,000 acres of light maneuver area, and additional space for training areas. The post is ideally situated with natural barriers to encroachment on three sides, further reducing encroachment in the out years. Terrain conditions support both heavy and light collective training.  Additionally, a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kansas National Guard provides an additional 30,000 acres of excellent Maneuver and Joint training acres at the Great Plains Joint Training Center (GPJTC). This training environment enables the Division to conduct live, virtual and constructive training distributed from Fort Riley for an Armored BCT and Infantry BCT simultaneously.  Finally, collective efforts with the adjoining communities have resulted in Army Compatible Use Buffer (ACUB) agreements with almost 12,000 acres protected from current or potential future encroachment on Fort Riley.

The Division's Combat Aviation Brigade boasts state of the art facilities and training ranges since its arrival at Fort Riley. The Riley Military Operations Area (MOA) tied to the ADA East & West MOA's provide direct access to the GPJTC training space along with the live fire ranges on Fort Riley proper. Additionally, Fort Riley's ability to conduct Gray Eagle Unmanned Aerials Systems (UAS) operations in the National Airspace is unparalleled in the Army. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a Certificate of Authorization for the Division to fly Gray Eagles UAS's from unrestricted airspace to training areas. As a result, the Division's CAB has the airspace to increase its UAS flights and train pilots with minimal impact to those living near Fort Riley. Additionally, Fort Riley’s Mission Training Complex (MTC) is dedicated to leveraging simulation training and has served as a pioneer for training complexes in the Army enterprise wide.

The Division's ability to quickly project power has been demonstrated repeatedly and Fort Riley's position as a power projection platform is without question. The very mature deployment infrastructure includes 13 miles of organic rail track, and direct access to the Union Pacific rail line which passes through Fort Riley and for which a spur is in place to support deployments.  The Bob Dole intermodal rail yard has the ability to rail load a Brigade within 36 hours. This is complemented by direct access to I-70 for truck transport and three Aerial Port of Embarkation (APOE) options for the Division. APOEs include Manhattan Regional Airport five miles away which can accommodate C-17 or 737-based flights, Forbes Field 70 miles away which can accommodate the entire Air Mobility Command fleet of aircraft, and Salina Municipal Airport 60 miles away which can accommodate the entire Air Mobility Command fleet. This exceptional deployment capability postures Fort Riley to continue to demonstrate its ability to rapidly project forces supporting the Army “Expeditionary” requirements. 

Fort Riley boasts a number of additional impressive deployment capabilities to include:

• Two locomotives with one crew on site
• Reinforced docks with shock absorbers
• Movement Control Center
• Control Tower
• Three loading docks
• Both weigh-in-motion and static weighing facilities

Fort Riley has continued to invest in its future by building new barracks, improving and privatizing housing, and updating training and work areas. Over $1.6 billion in military construction has been invested in Fort Riley since 2005. By utilizing Lean Six Sigma, the Division has reduced costs by $42.7 million since 2010. The Recycling Center alone has generated over $2.2 million in savings for the installation. Additional reductions have included tough decisions to cut civilian strength which resulted in $17.4 million in savings and implementing energy and water cost reduction initiatives recognized by the Army. Further, Kansas has contributed over $7 million to local school districts to ensure military dependents receive a high quality education while road improvements near the installation continue due to $60 million from state and federal funding.

Fort Riley experiences a unique and significant relationship with its community and state governments. This relationship should not be overlooked. Local communities have approved bonding for $32 million dollars for new schools or renovation of current schools. Kansas has assisted the school districts by launching a Second Count Date.  If on the Second Count Date a school district has experienced an increase in enrollment of military dependents over anticipated levels, the state will fund the higher level count. Additionally, Fort Riley maintains an extraordinary partnership with Kansas State University and the Combined Arms Center on Fort Leavenworth.

The Army's strong partnership with Kansans has a long and successful history of operation dating back more than a century. Fort Riley's economic impact on the Central Flint Hills Region (CFHR) continues to be substantial. This impact is vital to the success of the local community. Despite Army restructuring and sequestration cuts, Fort Riley provides $1.8 billion in direct economic impact on CFHR, making Fort Riley one of the biggest and most important economic resources in Kansas. However, when using a generally accepted economic multiplier of direct expenditures, Fort Riley's full economic impact would reflect more than $4.1 billion.  Governor Sam Brownback has noted that any further reductions in the force or civilian support would have a dramatic and significant impact on the local community and state. During these fiscally challenging times, both local and state commitments to Fort Riley have remained. These investments have been made to ensure the Army’s presence in Kansas is fully supported, making Fort Riley’s location irreplaceable and invaluable to the Army and the Department of Defense.

These past few years have not been easy for the military community, and the next few will continue to be difficult. However, this is not Fort Riley's first time on the "chopping block" and we have taken our hits in the past. We are immensely proud of the Fort Riley community and hope to continue modernizing and improving Fort Riley to meet the emerging needs of our future military.

We are confident that Fort Riley can not only meet, but exceed any additional challenges at as little cost to the taxpayer as possible. Significant cuts to Fort Riley mean substantial losses to the community, the soldiers and family members at the base and a degradation of a proven effective combat force for the Army. The installation's leadership has taken on the challenge of reducing their operational costs to create a lean operation. Fort Riley has taken all measures to ensure it meets the key factors of evaluation under the SPEA. As the Army weighs its decision, we hope you will agree that Fort Riley currently provides the Army with efficiencies and force structure unlike any other division in the country. 

Dear Mr. Secretary and General Odierno:

            Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Army's Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Assessment (SPEA) published in the Federal Register on June 26, 2014. As a delegation with immense pride in the military footprint we represent, we urge your deep and thoughtful consideration for maintaining Fort Leavenworth personnel at current levels.

Fort Leavenworth has earned its title as the "Intellectual Center of the Army" by providing the Army with unparalleled leadership and doctrinal training. Its unique mission and opportunity for growth, including further consolidation of Professional Military Education, could mean long-term cost savings for the Army and priceless benefit to the military’s intellectual strength. Fort Leavenworth’s assets provide a validation of systems and tactics critical for the Army to complete its mission in today’s dynamic threat environment. Further, the United States Disciplinary Barracks is the only high-security detention facility for military personnel adjudicated under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).           

            As host to the Combined Arms Center (CAC), which includes the Army's Center for Lessons Learned, the Command & General Staff College (CGSC), and the Foreign Military Studies Office, Fort Leavenworth's missions and people are irreplaceable.  The cost to replicate existing facilities and the potential loss of intellectual capital from cuts to the installation's current manning levels would have long-term implications for the Army. The training centers on Fort Leavenworth have provided the Army with the ability to seamlessly adapt to ever-changing threats. As the global landscape continues to transform, it is crucial that we maintain a training hub which provides soldiers with the ability to alter strategies and tactics.

At Fort Leavenworth, the Lewis & Clark Center provides a cutting-edge technology learning center for current and future Army leaders and international officers. The Kansas delegation has continually supported improvements to the installation, such as the Lewis & Clark Center, to ensure the Army and our allies’ best and brightest continue to learn in the finest environment. Fort Leavenworth’s connectivity with other Professional Military Education facilities, the Pentagon and warfighters in the field is unsurpassed and supports the continuous evolution of Army doctrine and strategy. 

Critical to the mission of educating military leaders are the CGSC and Foreign Military Studies Office. Through critical engagement with foreign officers, Fort Leavenworth’s programs are instrumental to strengthening alliances around the world and reinforcing America’s posture with partners. These schools perform a vital mission for the Army which cannot be duplicated elsewhere.  Professional Military Education has allowed the United States to raise the greatest Army in the world and it vital to our national security going forward. We remain extremely concerned that reductions could impact our military-to-military relationships across the globe by cutting foreign military leaders’ future attendance at the CGSC or impeding on annual visitations by foreign national military leaders.

Additionally, Fort Leavenworth is the home to the National Simulation Center, a state of the art facility crucial to integrating live, virtual, constructive, and gaming technology into an Integrated Training Environment. This forward leaning training provides efficiencies which translates into real savings for the federal government and taxpayer. As budgets dwindle, increased ability to conduct complex simulation in coordination with live training is of critical importance to the Army.  For example, the Lessons Learned Center at the CAC has developed a coordinated training relationship with the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley to provide training operations which validate and test new tactics, systems and programs from the CAC prior to distribution for use in the field by Combatant Commands. This synergy with Fort Riley is vital to saving lives and optimizing training as it enables the Army to "quality control" lessons learned before implementation in the field.

            Finally, during the Base Realignment and Closure process in 2005, the Army increased its law enforcement mission at Fort Leavenworth due to the responsibilities executed by the 15^th Military Police Brigade which operates the United States Disciplinary Barracks and the Joint Regional Corrections Center. Fort Leavenworth has taken on the difficult responsibility of enforcing UCMJ through incarceration without hesitation. This mission presents a unique set of challenges to the Army and the 15^th Military Police Brigade has served with valor. A high caliber of training is required to successfully manage high security inmates. For the mission to continue effectively, it is imperative that personnel and training requirements are not undermined by any recommendations in the SPEA.

Today, Fort Leavenworth sits on 8.8 miles and Fort Leavenworth serves as the largest employer in Leavenworth County with approximately 9,000 military and civilian employees, totaling 21 percent of the local work force. This is a statistic we take seriously. Fort Leavenworth's annual payroll is approximately $500,000 with a direct economic impact of $1,079,537,640. Using an economic multiplier, Fort Leavenworth provides a $2.8 billion economic impact to Kansas which is second only to Fort Riley.

            The Delegation understands the difficult budget constraints our nation faces and the tough decisions our Army must make in the future. But these cuts should not be done at the expense of the Army’s readiness. We strongly believe that any cuts to Fort Leavenworth would be ill-advised. We remain proud partners and unwavering advocates of the Army’s presence in Kansas. The strength of this partnership is without question as we await your assessment. We are confident that you will agree with the immense value Fort Leavenworth, and Fort Riley, present, and that these unique assets must be protected during the Army’s current drawdown.

            We appreciate your sincere consideration and kindly request you provide the same thoughtful and close consideration to those submitted by the Governor of Kansas and local communities impacted by Fort Leavenworth.

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