FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (Jan. 26, 2015)-- More than 1,500 Fort Campbell Soldiers, civilians and retirees, as well as local elected officials and other community leaders gathered on post, Jan. 20, for a meeting that could very well determine the future of the installation.
The listening session, held on post at the Family Resource Center with overflow sites at Cole Park Commons and Wilson Theater, allowed community members to speak about why projected Army end strength reductions would negatively impact Fort Campbell and the surrounding areas. Reports said up to approximately 2,000 community members were turned away from the meeting after the sites met capacity, leaving others to listen live via radio and webcast.
Everyone from 101st Airborne Division and Fort Campbell Commander Maj. Gen. Gary Volesky to Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky came together either virtually or in person to present a united front to senior Army officials.
FORT CAMPBELL'S DEFENSE
As it stands in a worst-case scenario, Fort Campbell could lose 16,000 Soldiers and civilians in the Army-wide drawdown. This number does not take into account family members of Soldiers who would leave Fort Campbell as a result as well.
Listening sessions are being held at 30 active component installations far and wide as high-ranking Army officials determine a final plan for cuts to be put into effect by 2020. Fort Campbell's commander told everyone to provide input before the night ended, with the session stretching well past the originally scheduled two-and-a-half-hour slot.
"Don't leave anything in your rucksacks," said Volesky via video link from Liberia.
The potential to cut Fort Campbell's troop levels in half comes from the outcome of the Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Assessment, or SPEA, which measured environmental and socioeconomic effects of force reductions at many Army installations. Army officials are looking at cutting troop levels to as low as 420,000 (if full sequestration goes into effect) as a result of the requirements of the Budget Control Act of 2011, which mandated sweeping defense department cuts.
Col. Karl Konzelman, chief of the Army G-3/5/7 Force Management Division, explained how the force reduction decisions are being made. He accompanied Director of Army Force Management Army G-3 Brig. Gen. Roger Cloutier Jr. from Washington, D.C. to the listening session. The Army will need to cut $95 million from its budget during the next 10 years, Konzelman said.
"As the force gets smaller … there's only so many places where that money can come from," Konzelman said.
If the Army reduces to 490,000 Soldiers as is preferred by Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Ray Odierno, it will be a 14 percent decrease from its wartime personnel high, Konzelman said. He added officials are evaluating the largest possible personnel cuts to provide more latitude and options for senior Army leaders.
The idea is to avoid creating a hollow force, and Konzelman said "senior leaders take this very, very seriously."
With 4th Brigade Combat Team's inactivation, Fort Campbell felt no loss as equipment and personnel were reassigned to other installation units. However, the same cannot be said for the inactivation of the 159th Combat Aviation Brigade making the effects of the drawdown very real at Fort Campbell.
During the listening session, key leaders emphasized factual data -- citing everything from housing market statistics to school system enrollment and overall economic impact.
Leaders focused on presenting data that was not included in the Army's military value analysis, or MVA. The MVA is an analysis model that rank-orders installations based on attributes that the Army identifies as being operationally important. The listening session was intended to enhance the Army's assessment by discussing the full impact a reduction in Fort Campbell personnel would have in the local community.
OVERFLOW OF SUPPORT
While well-prepared data was important, the widespread show of support from the surrounding communities was also being measured. The overflowing Family Resource Center ensured this community listening session to be one of the best attended thus far.
The support was a welcome sign for Fort Campbell officials, who have been preparing for the listening session since this past summer. Community and elected leaders addressed concerns ranging from military considerations, economic impact, infrastructure, education, medical services, family and veteran concerns, quality of life and community investment. For example, the military is the largest occupational group in the local area, and the economic impact in Tennessee from Fort Campbell alone is $5 billion.
Haslam talked about how Tennessee provides outstanding support for the installation in energy, education capacity and logistics. With this support, many Soldiers choose to retire here.
"At the end of the day it comes down to quality of life," Haslam said. "This is a place that people choose."
Many of the nearly 40 speakers, either at the podium or via video message, addressed Fort Campbell's training capabilities, as well as airfields and other high military values that allow it to sustain itself better than many other posts. With 30 percent of force structure cuts made in Kentucky in last two years, retired Col. David Thompson of the Kentucky Commission on Military Affairs, said further cuts would be a "strategic misstep."
"You will find no better ally than the Commonwealth of Kentucky," he said. "We will continue to embrace the Army in word and deed."
Senior officials from Department of the Army headquarters emphasized that these cuts are not ideal, but current fiscal constraints make them a reality. Jack Smith, Christian County Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Committee chair, encouraged them to look at personnel cuts with a business mindset, after sharing how Fort Campbell is staying relevant to today's fight.
"My challenge [to the Army] is to find a better value for your training dollar," Smith said.
UPCOMING CHOICES
Final force reduction decision are still forthcoming, possibly by late spring or early summer time frame, but Fort Campbell officials hope for positive returns based on the listening session. The listening sessions should be completed Army-wide by the end of March.
Even with the numbers at stake, Kentucky Congressman Ed Whitfield encouraged the audience to view Fort Campbell as a "crown jewel." Whitfield skipped out on the State of the Union address to fully support his constituents in Western Kentucky.
"We have to look at these men and women as more than a mere statistic," he said.
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