We Need You All, Just Not As Many

Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel, visited Ft. Campbell this week to address soldiers and installation commanders about two topics straight from global headlines, Ebola and the ordered force drawdown.  Here is an excerpt of his remarks, courtesy David Snow with The Eagle Post:

“You all understand the perils, the threats, the challenges that face our country.

The world is shifting and changing the world order. It’s shifting like we’ve never seen before. The velocity of that change is unprecedented.

The challenges and threats that face our country in the world today are not just from Islamic fundamentalist terrorists. Yes, that is a threat that we are dealing with. But pandemic health diseases and pandemic health traits threaten the world like Ebola is part of that world scope of threats.”

— Sec. of Defense Chuck Hagel

The article went on to report that Secretary Hagel told the soldiers that Ft. Campbell "has unique capabilities that no other institution in the world has."

Why, then, is the installation facing potentially enormous troop drawdowns?  The Secretary seems to describe a global military theater that needs all the might we can provide.

Image Courtesy Ft. Campbell, U.S. Army

The national security concerns alone warrant maintaining current service member levels, before you even begin an analysis of the relatively less important (but impossible to overstate) economic peril to West Kentucky and North Central Tennessee.

The Secretary, with all due respect, appears to be speaking from both sides of his mouth. I do not approve.

UPDATED:  Today's news that the 159th Combat Aviation Brigade, stationed at Ft. Campbell, will be deactivated.  Ft. Campbell will see a 2400 troop reduction by the end of the 2015 fiscal year.  Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, and Rep. Ed Whitfield released this joint statement today (Nov. 20th, 2014), one that I fully agree with:

“We are deeply disappointed by the Obama administration’s decision to remove the 159th CAB from Fort Campbell. It is bad news for our nation’s security and for the local Fort Campbell community. Our military’s readiness and national security must remain the highest priority for the American people, and for Fort Campbell’s troops and families in the great Commonwealth of Kentucky. We believe that cuts need to be made in places other than deployable troops as a means to make smart cuts to government spending. We also must not allow our number of troops to fall to the dangerously low levels being sought by the Obama Administration, especially at a time of increasing instability in the world.”

— Sen. McConnell, Sen. Paul and Rep. Whitfield

The Line In The Sand

I have never believed that I was disciplined enough to be a soldier, sailor, airman or marine.  I certainly never believed I was physically fit enough.  I have looked at the branches of the armed forces with equal parts curiosity and awe.  The culture appears, from my limited perspective, wildly different than our day-to-day.  For those serving in desert-like conditions (or elsewhere), even if we normalize for scorched earth, our military men & women live in a very different world.  Authority, rigorous calls of duty, honor, rigorous mental preparation, loyalty, uniquely challenging training, discipline; these are some of the hallmarks of military service.  With all due respect to my fellow legislators, I cannot say the same about the Kentucky General Assembly, or any other unit of government.  Those traits, those qualities, are the rule in the military.  Outside the military, they are the exception.  Those men and women were once like us, but for various reasons each one volunteered to step out of the comfortable path and onto a path marked with sacrifice, struggle, blood and death.  No, perhaps these men and women were never like us to begin with.  What they choose to do is special, and, to those of us with a mere fraction of their courage, difficult to grasp.

On Veteran's Day I attended a joint lunch between Hopkinsville's Kiwanis and Rotary clubs.  Our guest speaker was Col. David "Buck" Dellinger, Garrison Commander of Ft. Campbell, home of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).  Col. Dellinger gave a resounding call for support for the U.S. Army and her companion branches of service.  This call for support is important to everyone in Christian County and the surrounding counties and communities of Western Kentucky, and sister communities in Tennessee.  We each certainly share an economic tie to the installation and her compliment of service members and civilian workers, but more deeply we feel a sense of responsibility to the service members and their families.  Our communities give time, money and muscle to the men and women of the service and their families.  We cook meals and celebrate returns home.  We comfort and lift up in prayer the loved ones that return permanently changed, and the loved ones of those that never return at all.  This is the least we can do.

Col. Dellinger said something during the meeting that struck a chord with me.  He made reference to the line we've heard on the airwaves recently, "boots on the ground."  The Colonel said he was one of the first 500 soldiers on the ground in Kuwait in Operation Desert Storm.  He referenced distant support from aircraft and surface fleets in the Gulf, but that it was the troops on the ground that made the greatest impact.  "Those soldiers drew a line in the sand and dared the enemy to cross."  My Veterans Day came to a grinding halt with this imagery.  Air and sea superiority are certainly mission critical, but seeing in my mind these men and women standing at the front - quite literally the front line - staring the enemy head on and daring them to cross it.  These men and women are heroes.  Superheroes.  They do that for us.  Every. Single. Day.

Be thankful for courageous women and men who choose to leave the comfortable path for the front line.  They do it for you.

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SPEA Letters of Support

As has been reported widely in the last few weeks, the U.S. Army is considering vast cuts to both Ft. Campbell and Ft. Knox as part of the Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Assessment (SPEA).  Recently, Ft. Knox and the surrounding communities were hit very hard with a troop drawdown, and with the SPEA Ft. Campbell could lose as many as 16,000 – roughly half the installation which brings an estimated $4.7 Billion economic boost to the Pennyrile region.  Today is the deadline to submit public comments, which can be done by email or by phone here:

“U.S. Army Environmental Command
ATTN: SPEA Public Comments
2450 Connell Road (Bldg 2264)
Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234-7664

direct email:usarmy.jbsa.aec.nepa@mail.mil
or call 210-466-1590
toll free: 855-846-3940”

I sent letters on behalf my constituents in support of both installations, with courtesy copies heading to my own federal Congressional delegation, the Chief of Staff of the Army, Gen. Odierno, and Secretary of the Army John McHugh.  You can see my letters here:

SPEA Ft. Campbell Letter

SPEA Ft. Knox Letter

Ft. Campbell Cuts

You may have heard recently that Ft. Campbell is facing a potential cut of drastic proportions - a personnel draw down on the order of 16,000 soldiers.

These proposed cuts come from the Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Assessment (SPEA) which is part of the Army 2020 Force Structure Realignment.

Imagine 16,000 fewer soldiers in the area. Now, imagine the families affected by those cuts.  Now, imagine the ripple economic effects across the entire Pennyrile and Barren River regions (not to mention Clarksville and surrounding Tennessee counties). Let that sink in for a minute.

There is no question that those areas depend largely on Fort Campbell as an economic driver and employer with an annual $4.7 billion impact. As the Christian County Chamber notes, "while the SPEA did take into account the effect on Trigg and Christian Counties it did not take into account other counties that will be affected in this drawdown.  This ripple effect will reach other Kentucky counties such as Caldwell, Hopkins and Todd just to name a few."

These cuts aren't guaranteed. You have a voice.  You have the power to influence the Department of the Army. Now is the time.

The Christian County Chamber of Commerce has posted an online submission form to send a letter to the Army expressing deep concern about the impact of the proposed cuts. Go. There. Now!

NOTE: LETTERS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY AUGUST 25TH! 

Don't want to use the Chamber's form letter? Write your own and mail it here: 

U.S. Army Environmental Command
ATTN: SPEA Public Comments
2450 Connell Road (Bldg 2264)
Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234-7664

Or Email it here:

usarmy.jbsa.aec.nepa@mail.mil

Or call here: 210-466-1590
Or call toll free here: 855-846-3940