Army undersecretary finds fort ready to serve

Sierra Vista Herald ^ | Bill Hess

[SandRat]

FORT HUACHUCA — There is a special synergy at this southern Army post which provides the military with a variety of capabilities, Undersecretary of the Army Joseph Westphal said Thursday.

Saying he heard from post officials as well as people from the civilian community, Westphal noted this was his second trip to Arizona, but during his first, the Army wasn’t going through the budget travails it is now experiencing.

For Army leadership, the continuing financial issues — to include the budget cuts, continuing sequestration requiring even more drastic trimming, civilian furloughs and future reductions in soldier strength — means the nation’s senior military service is experiencing hard decision making.

What Fort Huachuca has, which the Army needs, is the fact “military intelligence training, cyber security“ and other functions such as testing are part of the post’s missions,” Westphal said.

But the financial turmoil is causing problems, he said, noting he met with some civil service employees and heard their views on recent furloughs.

What was done to the civil work force created the wrong feeling — that they were not an important part of the Army’s workforce — which is not true, the undersecretary said.

Civil service employees have supported the warfighters, and many have deployed as well, Westphal said.

The requirement to furlough the majority of the Army civilian workforce “is not how we should have treated a dedicated workforce,” he said, noting they took an economic hit instead of being recognized for their hard work and service to the Army and the nation.

He made his comments before departing the fort, which he visited as part of a three-day trip to Arizona.

Wednesday he was in Tucson visiting an Army contractor and today he is in Phoenix to visit Army contractors in that area before heading back to Washington, D.C.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Ron Barber, who had asked Westphal, the second highest civilian in the Department of the Army, to visit southern Arizona, said the fort is critical to, not only the Army’s needs, but the entire defense establishment, adding there is a need to ensure the fort’s missions survive in this era of reduced budgets.

Barber’s 2nd Congressional District of Arizona includes the post.

Saying he saw how the various missions on the fort work together, Westphal said an important part of his trip to the post was meeting with members of the Fort Huachuca 50, a post support group and hearing their comments as to the importance of the installation to the nation’s defense and the local economy.

Tom Finnegan, a member of the Fort Huachuca 50’s board of directors, said Westphal “was positive about the fort.”

Finnegan said the undersecretary was told “we’ve got the capacity, housing and (soon to be) new hospital to support the Army’s needs.”

With the reassignment of a Signal Corps brigade headquarters and one of its battalions last year, there is room for “new missions on the fort,” said Finnegan, a retired Army colonel, who is co-chairman of the Arizona Military Affair Commission.

“Fort Huachuca is a very good place to put new missions,” he said he told Westphal.

On the other hand,Finnegan said the undersecretary was advised to close the post would make no sense because of the special capabilities it provides the Army.

But Finnegan said while Westphal could not make a firm commitment because of “all the budget issues driving Army decisions,” he knows even in the learner times that are ahead, the undersecretary understands the unique capabilities the fort provides.

“He didn’t come out and say it plainly, the fort is safe, but he did say Fort Huachuca is an ideal place for some missions,” Finnegan said.

That Westphal listened and understood the fort’s special abilities resonates with the Fort Huachuca 50, he said.

The group’s mission is to keep the fort’s importance in front of the decision-makers, Finnegan said.

“That’s our job, and we got to do it,” he added.

During his short press conference before leaving the fort Thursday, Westphal said the upcoming congressional budget battles, which Barber noted will be difficult, will determine much of what the Army does looking out to future years.

“We plan five years out,” and much the planning “depends what Congress will do,” Westphal said.

[Gamecock]

Fort hHuachuca. What a great assignment. Loved it there.

[ops33]

My son went to AIT at Fort Huachuca. My wife and I visited him for his graduation, very impressed by the installation and the area. Seems like a very nice place to be stationed.