Community support key at next listening session. Public invited to Tuesday event

Sierra Vista Herald ^ | Bill Hess

[SandRat]

SIERRA VISTA — Army officials will be listening to what the civilian community does to support Fort Huachuca at a listening session Tuesday.

“We need to tell the Department of the Army all the good we are already doing to help soldiers and their families and retirees and their families,” Mayor Rick Mueller said.

Tuesday will be the second listening session concerning a potential reduction of soldiers and civil service employees at the post. The cuts are part of an overall “reduction in force,” that the Army is charged with carrying out, according to Maj. Gen. Robert P. Ashley, the fort’s commander.

In September an Army “sensing” team came to the post to hear comments, mostly by elected officials, as to why the post should not see manpower cuts, but rather missions should be added to the fort.

That meeting saw about 100 people at the event.

Later, comments made at all 30 of the Army installations involved in potential reductions were compiled, with the Sierra Vista area having the eighth highest number of responses.

Friday, Sierra Vista Mayor Rick Mueller said Tuesday’s meeting “gives the Army another opportunity to listen to the community.”

Fort Huachuca media liaison, Tanja Linton said besides the written comments collected earlier, Tuesday’s session is a continuing process to “gather verbal community-unique considerations to support the Army in developing a plan to implement cuts to the force if it is required to, beyond the end-strength announced in last year’s Programmatic Environmental Assessment.”

The session will be held from 10 a.m. to noon on Tuesday at the fort’s Cochise Theater in the Exchange Service complex near Jeannie’s Diner, where the bowling alley is located, Linton said.

The Army’s leadership recognizes the significant contributions communities have made on behalf of soldiers and families, Linton added.

The goal of possible Army cuts are from 570,000 soldiers to 490,000 by the end of Fiscal Year 2017, which is on Sept. 30, 2017. After that, another reduction is possible to 420,000 soldiers, depending on factors facing a number of Army installations, including Fort Huachuca, she said, noting the following Army leadership concerns:

• Timely end-strength reductions and structure adjustments in all Army components are necessary to shape a force that can best meet defense strategic requirements within constrained funding.

• The Army is evaluating the impact of end-strength reductions and potential realignments on communities surrounding military installations.

• The Army must ensure it can field and sustain a force of sufficient size, capability and configuration to meet the nation’s current and projected future security and defense requirements.

In addition to written comments collected earlier this year, the Department of the Army is reaching out to gather verbal community-unique considerations to support developing a plan to implement additional cuts to the force, if it is required.

The listening sessions are a time for the community to provide verbal input to help the Army make informed decisions about actual force structure changes.

Community input will help the Army make the best decisions about reorganizations and mitigate, as much as possible, the impact on local communities in making difficult decisions.

“We need to tell the Department of the Army all the good we are doing and already have done to support soldiers and their families and retirees and their families,” Mueller said.

Hoping for a large crowd to come out and support both the community and the post, the mayor added people must remember the session “is not to whine,” but rather emphasize “that no other community provides the Army the support as does Sierra Vista.”

[wbarmy]

Try selling a house or land in that area right now. The market sure thinks that bad things are about to happen.

[SandRat]

Glad I settled my Prints Trust Settlement before this.

[SandRat]

Not Prints, my Parents