FORT RILEY, Kan. - Fort Riley and Kansas State University formally renewed their partnership during a ceremony Aug. 27 at the K-State Alumni Center, Manhattan. The partnership aims to provide mutually beneficial opportunities for the two institutions.
"This is important to the state, and it's important to the region that we have a relationship like this," said Maj. Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley.
"One accomplishes one's goals ... through partnership with committed partners like Kansas State University," Brooks said. "It makes it possible for us to achieve a higher level of excellence than many posts in the United States can accomplish and to make Fort Riley, frankly, what we want to be - the premier division level installation in the world."
Brooks added that the partnership aids Fort Riley as it continues to grow and expand while also deploying Soldiers and caring for their Families.
Brooks and Kirk Schulz, K-State president, signed the resolution agreeing to:
Aca,!Ac Serve as a model military to university community partnership.
Aca,!Ac Enhance each institution's ability to accomplish its mission through collaboration.
Aca,!Ac Enhance the professional and personal quality of life for our constituent communities.
Aca,!Ac Seek new and innovative opportunities and programs.
Aca,!Ac Increase our capacity to steward, manage and sustain major resources through collaboration to the extent permitted by law and regulation.
The resolution also contained actions each institution would take to foster a partnership to improve the lives of Fort Riley Soldiers and Families and K-State students and faculty members.
A formal institutional partnership between K-State and Fort Riley was first established by Jon Wefald, former K-State president, and Maj. Gen. Robert Durbin, former commanding general of the 1st Inf. Div. and Fort Riley, in April 2008.
As a result, 44 different initiatives have been created under the partnership, a feat that Brooks said he doesn't believe can be found anywhere else.
"Many of these are created off creativity and initiative, and I know that that will yield even more as we go into the future here," Brooks said. "When you have a partner, you can come up with all kinds of great ideas for things that are mutually beneficial to both groups."
Among initiatives benefitting the two institutions are the combatives institute, an ROTC mentorship program, a marriage enrichment program, counseling services, distance education classes and a Research and Extension Office on post.
"I think it's both the quantity and depth of what we're doing that's really significant," Schulz said. "So it impacts everything from the single Soldiers up to officers and, from our side on campus, it's athletics, recreation. It's graduate students, undergraduate students. It truly is an effort from top to bottom."
Brooks detailed a recent training event, Government 101, as an example of programs the partnership can produce. To help the division prepare for its upcoming deployment to Iraq, K-State faculty members and Manhattan, Kan., leaders trained 1st Inf. Div. Soldiers on issues related to governance.
Schulz said he was really proud of many of the service-learning opportunities provided to K-State students, particularly when welcoming home Soldiers from deployments or when providing support to Families of deployed Soldiers.
These service projects are part of the K-State education experience and the university's land-grand mission, Schulz said.
"Kansas State is a land grant institution, and (land grants) were formed, really, to work particularly within the states where they were established to help give people educational experiences in, generally, practical fields," he said. "I think it's our role as the state's land-grant institution to work closely with our military partners in the state."
Brooks believes the new Post 9/11 GI Bill, which took effect Aug. 1, and will provide education benefits for servicemembers who have served on active duty for 90 or more days since Sept. 10, 2001, will expand those opportunities for Soldier and Family members to attend K-State.
Both leaders also commented on the education opportunities provided to Soldiers and consequently the high quality level of students from Fort Riley.
"The typical student that we're going to get that is in the Army - they're going to be highly motivated; they're going to have excellent leadership skills, great personal self discipline, and those are all characteristics that work really, really well in an academic environment," said Schulz.
K-State will show its appreciation for Soldiers Sept. 26 during the 1st Inf. Div. appreciation day. The event will center on pre-game and halftime activities during the K-State football game against Tennessee Tech.
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