ANDOVER, KS – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts today sent letters, signed by the Kansas congressional delegation, to Secretary of the Army John McHugh and General Raymond Odierno, Army Chief of Staff, to fight potential cuts to personnel and operations at Ft. Riley and Ft. Leavenworth as a result of the Army’s planned Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Assessment (SPEA).

“We have circled the wagons and are making a very compelling and clear case to the Army that both Ft. Leavenworth and Ft. Riley are unique and tremendous assets to our national security, the Army, their communities and the state as a whole,” Roberts said. “We will fight any ill-considered cuts to operations or personnel at our Kansas posts at every opportunity.”

At issue is the Army’s planned Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Assessment (SPEA). This assessment will determine force reductions at Army installations around the country. There is a public comment period until August 25, 2014. Kansans can gohere to submit comments. SPEA Cuts would not take place until October, 2015.

Thursday, August 14, Roberts will hold a town hall meeting in Leavenworth to discuss this and other issues, followed by a town hall meeting in Junction City on Saturday, August 16. For details on the meetings, go here and here.

Senator Roberts was joined by U.S. Senator Jerry Moran, Rep. Tim Huelskamp, Rep. Lynn Jenkins, Rep. Kevin Yoder and Rep. Mike Pompeo in sending the letters dated today, August 13, 2014.

Senator Roberts, the most senior Marine in the Congress, was a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee during the last major Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) in 2005. Anticipating the 2005 BRAC, Senator Roberts worked to ensure Kansas’ military installations had what they needed to provide relevant and ready forces for the nation’s defense. Kansas was rewarded with the return of the division Headquarters of the Big Red One to Ft. Riley. Through Senator Roberts’ hard work, the intellectual center of the Army, the Command and Staff General College remained at Ft. Leavenworth in the new and improved Lewis and Clark Center.

In 2005, Roberts and a dedicated team of state and local officials demonstrated to the Department of Defense that Kansas installations not only fulfilled critical missions, but they also are enthusiastically supported by their communities and the state.

“We will continue to remind the Army of the investments it has made to Ft. Riley and Ft. Leavenworth and of the payoff we see in the soldiers we train to be mission ready for whatever national security threat we face. But just as important, we will remind them of our communities who embrace the posts and the men and women in uniform and their families,” Roberts said. “Simply put, Kansas is the best home to the Army.”

The text of the letters are pasted below, or can be found here and here.