OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- Members of the central Flint Hills region of Kansas are an integral part of the 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley mission, Maj. Gen. Wayne W. Grigsby Jr. said Jan. 22.
Grigsby, 1st Inf. Div. and Fort Riley commanding general; Col. Andrew Cole, Fort Riley garrison commander; and Command Sgt. Maj. Joseph Cornelison, 1st Inf. Div. senior noncommissioned officer, attended the Flint Hills Regional Leaders' Retreat to represent the "Big Red One" and Fort Riley Soldiers, families, civilians, retirees and veterans. The annual retreat brings together local business and government leaders to talk about the way forward for the region.
Grigsby, Cole and Cornelison talked about the division's and post's readiness, deployments, economic impact, construction and housing -- among other topics -- during the event and later answered questions from attendees.
"When there are areas where we have shared interest," Grigsby said, "we need to continue to partner to enable mission readiness. Our partnerships with local elementary schools, universities and sports teams benefit the community and our Soldiers in immeasurable ways. We need to keep these partnerships strong -- and we will."
Grigsby said a lot has changed in the Army in the last year. Ash Carter took over as Secretary of Defense, and will make his first visit Thursday to Fort Riley; Gen. Mark Milley took over as Army chief of staff; and the 1st Inf. Div. welcomed a new commander, two deputy commanders and a new senior noncommissioned officer.
While a lot has changed, "the values we share with this community and our commitment to our partnership have not," Grigsby said. Any change in leaders brings new guidance, he went on to say, and the Army's most senior leaders produced new guidance for training and shaping the forces to remain able to close with and destroy the nation's enemies for years to come.
Fort Riley is at the forefront of this training and reshaping effort, Grigsby said, as the division has seen the deactivation of a brigade, stand up of the 1st Inf. Div. Artillery and a reconfiguration of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team by reducing the number of companies in the maneuver battalions from four to three.
"All of these changes have impacts on our post and on our communities," Grigsby said. "In spite of the slight decrease in Soldiers on Fort Riley, we continue to have an enormously positive impact on the local economy."
Cole later outlined those numbers, saying with the combined payroll, supplies/services/contracts, construction, education and healthcare dollars, the total direct economic impact equaled more than $1.58 billion.
Total economic impact for the state with all Kansas Army retirees and survivor annuitants' pay totaled more than $2.08 billion with Fort Riley's full economic impact totaling more than $3.4 billion.
Grigsby further talked about the post's impact, saying 22,000 partners at the federal, state and local level trained at Fort Riley.
"These people are staying in your hotels, spending money in your restaurants and shopping in your stores," he said.
Training facilities continue to improve, he said, and partnerships with the Army Reserve and National Guard and interagency partners bring even more people to the region. Members of the Kansas Army National Guard's 35th Infantry Division are at Fort Riley this week to help evaluate the 1st Inf. Div. during its Command Post Exercise 2. The exercise is in preparation for the spring's Division Warfighter Exercise, a high-level training opportunity aimed at preparing the headquarters for a mission downrange.
The division's primary mission is to build and maintain combat-ready forces, Grigsby said, "and -- on order -- deploy to fight and win our nation's wars."
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