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The Oklahoman: Fort Sill gains jobs amid deep U.S. Army personnel cuts

July 9, 2015
News Stories

The Oklahoma - Chris Casteel

Fort Sill, the U.S. Army artillery post in southwestern Oklahoma, will gain more than 200 positions over the next two years while other bases are hit with deep personnel cuts.

The Army, which must reduce its active duty ranks by 40,000 and its civilian workforce by 17,000, released its specific base-by-base changes on Thursday. While bases in Texas, Georgia, Alaska and other states are absorbing thousands of lost positions, Fort Sill will gain 219 active duty slots.

Fort Sill has nearly 10,000 active duty and Guard and Reserve troops and about 5,000 civilian workers. The post's main missions are field artillery training and air defense artillery, known as Fires.

The restructuring announced Thursday will mean new air defense and field artillery battalions at the post.

“We are happy the Army recognized what we have to offer the country here in the Lawton-Fort Sill community,” Joe Gallagher, deputy to the commanding general of the Fires Center of Excellence and Fort Sill.

“Adding both an air defense and field artillery battalion will help Fort Sill continue to lead the future of Fires for the Army into the 21st century."

Thousands of troops go through the post for training each year. It was not clear Thursday if the Army-wide personnel cuts would mean fewer students moving through Fort Sill's schools.

The Army, which is aiming to reduce its active duty force to 450,000 people, expects to implement most of the cuts in the 2016 and 2017 fiscal years.

Lawmakers and military leaders have warned that the personnel losses could rise if Congress and the president can't agree on changes to the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration.

Pentagon leaders have said a reduction to 450,000 U.S. Army personnel would not pose a significant risk to national security but that anything below that could.

Oklahoma lawmakers were careful in their remarks on Thursday, expressing relief about their home-state gains almost in passing while blasting the steep draw-down in troops.

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Tulsa, a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, said Thursday, "The announced cut to our Army, combined with the reduction to our overall Armed Forces the past couple of years, puts into question our military’s capabilities to execute the requirements of our national security strategy.

"While I am grateful that Oklahoma installations are unaffected during this round, the president needs to come to the negotiating table to reverse long-term funding restrictions on our national security ... It will take the next decade and new presidential leadership to rebuild the degradation of our Army and overall weakened national security."

U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Moore, whose district includes Fort Sill, said his office had helped the local community prepare a report to the Army about the potential impacts of the proposed downsizing of 6,842 personnel at the post.

“While I am relieved that the Army’s restructuring reductions did not impact Fort Sill’s personnel, I remain very concerned about the president’s military policy and continued determination to further cut those who volunteered to defend our nation,” Cole said Thursday.

“Clearly, the president’s strategy is not based on reality but rather the ill-founded assumption that the world is safe enough, revealing just how limited his understanding is of military deterrence and use of strategic force."

Fort Sill, which dates back to 1869, has never seriously been considered for closure through all of the rounds going back more than 25 years. It would be a very expensive base to shut down because of environmental clean-up costs related to its artillery ranges and unexploded shells.

In the last round of base closures, held in 2005, the post got a huge boost with the addition of the Air Defense Artillery school from Fort Bliss, in Texas, and an Air Defense Artillery unit. The decision led to tens of millions of dollars in new construction, along with the additional permanent positions and students.

The Army estimated Fort Sill's economic impact on the area at $1.8 billion last year. That counts pay — including to retirees — and contracts.

Online:The Oklahoman