WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts again called on Kansans to weigh in about the significant role of Ft. Riley and Ft. Leavenworth play in Kansas communities to the Army which is seeking public comment regarding its plans to reduce forces at Army installations around the country. The comment period ends August 25, 2014. Audio below.

Earlier this month, Roberts and the Kansas congressional delegation sent letters 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). The letters can be found here and here.

“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.

Last week, Roberts held town hall meetings in Leavenworth and Junction City to discuss this and other issues. He made an appeal to members of those communities to submit comments.

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.”

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