Ribbon cutting of the newest Army Reserve Center in the Caribbean

FORT BUCHANAN, PUERTO RICO - Senior U.S. military officials, local military personnel, civilian employees, state and federal government and community members gathered, Feb 10, at Fort Buchanan, the only U.S. Army installation In the Caribbean, to celebrate the inauguration of a training center, which was built at a cost of 20 million dollars.

Maj. Gen. Robert D. Harter, commander of the 81st Readiness Division and Fort Buchanan's Senior Commander, was present at the ceremony.

“Our mission in the Army is dangerous. That is why we must continue investing in Fort Buchanan and in Puerto Rico. We must ensure that the soldiers assigned to Fort Buchanan are ready to mobilize directly from the island. Our troops must be able to board a plane in San Juan and be transported directly to the theater of operations. We will make that happen. And this building is the first step to getting there,” Harter said.

Meanwhile, Colonel Charles N. Moulton, commander of Fort Buchanan, explained that the Army provides the military community of the Caribbean with housing services, medical care and childcare, employment for spouses, military transfers support, exceptional services program for family members, financial preparedness, community service, and recreation.

“While all areas are important, maintaining our infrastructure is key to our mission. After all, our troops need a place to train, and work. These modern facilities demonstrate our focus on providing our military personnel with the services and facilities they need to accomplish their mission,” Moulton said.

Faced with questions about possible mobilizations of U.S. soldiers from Puerto Rico in response to the global security situation, between Israel and Hamas and Ukraine and Russia, Moulton avoided providing information that could violate operational security.

“I can't predict the future. However, what I can tell you is that as the home of the US Army in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, Fort Buchanan will enable local units to be ready to deploy, fight and win decisively against any adversary, at any time. anytime, anywhere,” Moulton said.

For Col. Carlos Gorbea, the 1st Mission Support Command commanding officer, this building represents a very important step.

“This is a building that represents much more than a monetary investment. This is an investment in our Soldiers. Facilities like this will retain the warriors within our force and recruit the next generation of soldiers. This is extremely important,” said Gorbea.

The new 58,199-square-foot building will house about 1,000 soldiers, distributed among 17 Army Reserve units. These include military units for human resources, transportation, military police, engineering, and training, among other specialties.

Fort Buchanan serves a diverse military community comprised of approximately 15,000 active duty, Reserve and National Guard military personnel, Marine Corps Reserve and Navy Operational Support Center.

The military installation also offers critical services to the Department of Defense civilian population, veterans, retirees, and their families, as well as more than 30 federal agencies located in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

The Undersecretary of State, Gianna Cruz Clavell, also participated in the ceremony. The Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico in Washington Honorable Jenniffer Gonzalez was represented by José Olmos.