Fort Polk Progress

Dear Member, 

 

The spring has been a busy time for Fort Polk Progress, and summer promises to be even busier. Please read below for an update on recent happenings. 

 

Landrieu earns ADC Congressional Leadership Award for support of Fort Polk

For her efforts to improve the military value of Fort Polk and support its military families, "Military Mary," this year earned one of the Association of Defense Communities' Congressional Leadership Awards. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana), along with other winners, will be recognized at a special ceremony on Capitol Hill in June during the Defense Communities National Summit. For the full article, click here.

 

Reese to appear on LPB

"Grassroots Politics and Louisiana's Military" was the topic of the 11th Annual McLeod Lecture Series on Louisiana Politics at McNeese State University recently. The program will air on LPB stations on Wednesday, June 4 at 6 p.m. and Sunday, June 9 at 11 a.m.

Fort Polk Progress Chairman Michael Reese, Barksdale Forward President Murray Viser, LPB President and CEO Beth Courtney, Speaker for the Louisiana House of Representatives Charles Kleckley (partially hidden) and JRTC and Fort Polk Chief of Staff Colonel Lee Walters examined grassroots political groups in Louisiana and the next round of proposed cuts by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC). The program will air on LPB stations on Wednesday, June 4 at 6 p.m. and Sunday, June 9 at 11 a.m.

 

The event was moderated by Louisiana Public Broadcasting's Beth Courtney and examined the reactions of grassroots political groups in Louisiana to the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC). The panel included Fort Polk Progress Chairman Michael Reese, Barksdale Forward President Murray Viser, Speak

er for the Louisiana House of Representatives Charles Kleckley, and JRTC and Fort Polk Chief of Staff Colonel Lee Walters.  Senator John Smith and Representative James Armes also provided recorded interviews.

 

The group discussed the beginning of grassroots advocacy groups and their goals for the communities and bases they represent, reviewed the results of their work and examined their futures.

 

The discussion was frank and in some instances sobering. Speaker Kleckley acknowledged that in the past the state legislature had not done enough to assist local communities in addressing the crippling effects of possible cuts and said the mood in Baton Rouge has changed.

 

"We will do everything we can to help the military," Kleckley said. "We cannot have our guard down again."

 

In spite of the difficult task ahead for Fort Polk Progress in its efforts to maintain and eventually grow the mission of Fort Polk, Reese said the state and the region around Fort Polk will not be deterred.

 

"We have hope for the future. The Louisiana (Congressional) delegation is united and we have wonderful growth opportunities at Fort Polk to train and deploy (troops)," he said.  

 

Military Appreciation Day at the State Capitol

Fort Polk Progress Chairman Michael Reese and Fort Polk Senior Commander Brig. Gen. William Hickman and Garrison Commander Col. T. Glenn Moore joined leaders from the other branches of the U.S. Military to meet with the Louisiana House of Representatives at the Capitol Building on April 30, 2014.  Of all of the Louisiana bases that were represented, the Fort Polk community had the strongest presence with representatives from the Vernon Parish School Board, Vernon Parish Chamber of Commerce, Vernon Parish Police Jury, Town of Anacoco, Town of Hornbeck and City of Leesville.

 

The leaders discussed the importance of Louisiana's military bases to the state and local economy as well as the nation's defense infrastructure.

 

Rep. James Armes (D-Leesville) successfully amended the state operating budget to include funding to support Louisiana's military community organizations, such as Fort Polk Progress, to help prepare for a future round of BRAC closures.

 

Reese said the visit to the State Capitol gives Fort Polk Progress an extraordinary opportunity to interact with state lawmakers and inform them about the unique role Fort Polk plays in the state's economy.

 

"Our meetings and discussions were extremely fruitful," Reese said. "Our local and state leaders are keenly aware of the importance of Fort Polk to the surrounding region, the state as a whole, and our country. We were particularly excited by the efforts of Rep. Armes to increase funding from the state to support and enhance our efforts."

 

View the photo gallery of the event on Facebook

 

Fort Polk Progress moving forward with Education Initiative

With the resounding success of its Education Symposium in Vernon Parish and resulting plans for improved education opportunities, Fort Polk Progress is moving forward with expanding its Education Initiative into Beauregard Parish.

 

The Education Initiative is a proactive response to the Army's evaluation of school districts surrounding military bases. According to comments from Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Ray Odierno, the quality of schools surrounding school districts will play a significant role in future force structure decisions at bases.

 

"Our hope is to expand our education initiative into the school districts that surround Fort Polk where military children attend school," said Fort Polk Progress Chairman Michael Reese. "We want to offer whatever help we can to these districts as they seek the best for the students in their care."

 

"Already, in Vernon Parish, Fort Polk Progress has funded summer science camps as well as pre-Advanced Placement classes, and we are making these opportunities available to our partners in the Beauregard School District as well," said Reese.     

 

For more information about the science summer camps, please click here and here. More information about the pre-AP classes will be coming soon.

 

Louisiana senators meet with Army Medcom Commander about BJACH

As with many areas of the defense budget, the Army Medcom is also faced with decisions related to how they administer services to soldiers, families and retirees in this current fiscal environment.

 

Louisiana's U.S. Senators Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and David Vitter (R-LA) have met with the Surgeon General of the Army, LTG Horoho, to discuss plans that could impact BJACH.  The senators stressed their support for maintaining a robust Army hospital at Fort Polk.  At the same time, the senators offered support for partnership with Fort Polk Progress and the local community to identify more services that could be provided in the local community to assist in lowering operating cost for BJACH while maintaining the high quality of service that our soldiers deserve.

 

Both senators have met with Odierno about not only the status of BJACH, but also about the issue of when Fort Polk will receive the additional troops that the Army announced last year would be relocating to Louisiana as part of the Army 2020 plan.

 

Army outlines plan to inactivate seven brigade combat teams

The Army has inactivated three brigade combat teams this fiscal year, and has seven more to go, as it works toward an end-strength of 490,000 soldiers by the end of 2015.

 

In all, 10 Brigade Combat Teams (BCT) will be cut this year and next, and the Army is "on target" to meet its restructure requirements. It takes anywhere from six to 10 months to inactivate a BCT.

 

Fort Polk is currently the home of the Army's 4th Brigade 10th Mountain Division.

 

The process is the most challenging on installations that don't include multiple, similar units, where the Army can cross-level [soldiers]. On large installations the military can transfer soldiers from one unit to another, usually without having to move families.

 

In addition to the BCT cuts, the Army will reorganize most of its remaining BCTs by adding a third maneuver battalion to its armored and infantry brigades.

 

The Army's Stryker brigades already have three maneuver battalions each.

 

Even deeper manpower cuts to the Army may be in store after 2015; projections call for the Army to drop to 450,000 or even 420,000 soldiers.

 

Future base closings may be on the Congressional agenda

The House Armed Services Committee plans to present an amendment to the Defense authorization bill that would initiate another Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) round. The Committee is leaving the door cracked to another BRAC Commission, laying the preliminary groundwork in its version of the fiscal 2015 defense authorization bill for the Pentagon.

 

The process of downsizing and in some cases closing domestic military installations is lengthy and painful.

 

Currently the authorization bill,HR 4435 denies the Pentagon's request to begin a BRAC round in 2015. But a little-noticed provision should give defense officials some hope that House lawmakers may be coming around to the idea of another BRAC.

 

In its portion of the bill, the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness inserted a provision that would require the Defense secretary to submit a 20-year force structure plan and a comprehensive inventory of the department's worldwide infrastructure when it delivers its fiscal 2016 budget request to Capitol Hill early next year.

 

Along with the report, the secretary would be required to certify that another BRAC is needed and would result in annual net savings within six years after the base-closure round is initiated. The bill would make the Government Accountability Office responsible for evaluating the "accuracy and analytical sufficiency of the plan and inventory."

 

The incremental provision marks an evolution in thinking among lawmakers who have flatly and repeatedly rejected any talk of another base-closure round despite Pentagon assertions that the military has 25 percent more infrastructure than it actually needs.

 

Another BRAC round, defense officials say, would cost $6 billion up front. But it would cut costs by $2 billion a year in perpetuity. The department faces long-term caps on its budgets. Those caps are squeezing spending across the department, forcing the Pentagon to rethink how it will spend what will be limited budgets.

 

Executive Insight Briefing

Here is this week's Executive Insight Briefing. The Executive Insight Briefing contains links to recent articles concerning congressional budget issues, among other things. Note: While some of the links are to freely accessible websites, other websites require a subscription. Therefore, some links may be inaccessible to you unless you are also subscribed to that website. We apologize for any inconvenience.

 

Legislative Update

Please click here for a legislative update regarding U.S. House of Representatives action on the FY15 Military Construction Appropriations and FY15 National Defense Authorization Act.

 

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Sincerely,

Tammy Sharp

For Fort Polk Progress



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