Kansas Fighting for Ft. Riley February 10, 2015

(AP) – Military officials are hearing from Kansas lawmakers and residents the reasons against deep troop reductions at Fort Riley.
Residents from neighboring Junction City and Manhattan spoke of the importance of Fort Riley to the region during a town hall meeting Monday at the fort.
Fort Riley officials have said the installation stands to lose as many as 16,000 – more than half of the roughly 25,000 people employed there – who would be dismissed or redeployed as a result of personnel reductions to the Army.
Gov. Sam Brownback and U.S. Senators Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran of Kansas spoke in favor of keeping personnel at current levels at the base. Representatives of area schools and businesses also spoke of the negative impact of troop reductions.

Hartzler Warns Army, Don’t Run Out on Ft. Leonard Wood May 1, 2013

Western Missouri Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler says potential troop cutbacks at the Army base at Ft. Leonard Wood could cost the post more than 40% of its troop strength.
Hartzler is joining the opposition to the cuts. Both Missouri senators, Roy Blunt and Claire McCaskill wrote the Army recently to try to save the staffing at Ft. Leonard Wood.
The Army is considering reducing the size of its force, said Hartzler by about 70,000 troops.
Under one version of the plan, Ft. Leonard Wood could lose nearly 4,000 troops.
The Missouri lawmakers said the troop reductions would disrupt the fort’s coordinated training programs that are grouped at Ft. Leonard Wood.
Soldiers returning from overseas assignments to Ft. Leonard Wood are often used at the post to train other soldiers who are about to go on similar assignments.
Hartzler also worries the troop reductions and consolidations could hurt the counties surrounding the southern Missouri military post.
“In addition to the proposed reduction potentially harming military readiness and family well-being, the cuts at Fort Leonard Wood would disproportionately impact Pulaski, Laclede, and other counties with civilians employed at the Fort,” continued Hartzler. “The economic impact to this part of our state, with the loss of 41 percent of the Fort Leonard Wood permanent party, would be devastating.”
Kansas’ largest military base, Ft. Riley is also facing the possibility of troop reductions because of the military reduction plans.

Kansas & Missouri Republicans Write Obama, No More Base Closings February 27, 2012

A set of Republican Members of Congress, including several from Missouri and Kansas are calling for President Obama not to close any more military bases.
There are four major military posts in Kansas and Missouri, The Army bases in Ft. Leonard Wood, in Missouri. Kansas has Ft. Riley,
The Air Force has major bases in both states, Whiteman AFB in western Missouri and McConnell AFB in Wichita.
Kansas also has the Ft. Leavenworth military college.
The Missouri Representatives signing the letter include Rep.Vicky Hartzler, she represents the Mo-4 district, which has both Whiteman and Ft. Leonard Wood in her district.
Other Missourians signing the letter includes Reps. Todd Akin, Jo Ann Emerson and Blaine Luetkemyer.
Kansas Representative Lynn Jenkins also signed the letter. Ft. Riley is in her Ks-2 district.
A portion of the letter expresses alarm that the Obama administration may launch another round of military base closings, in an effort to reduce government spending.
The Representatives say that is “an ill-advised”strategy”.
The claim the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) project “is estimated to cost $37 billion to implement and the country will not realize net savings until 2018 at the earliest”.
The Representatives say another round of BRAC closings could cost more than it would save.