The U.S. Army has proposed to cut up to 2,700 jobs at Fort Huachuca, and the A-10 is at risk. The public has until Monday to weigh-in on the Air Force’s proposal to expand training missions at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and a public listening session has scheduled by the Army at Fort Huachuca for December 2, 2014.
Both candidates in the CD2 congressional race; Congressman Ron Barber and Martha McSally have called upon the public to step up and defend the future of the bases.
“It is important that all Southern Arizonans join us in fighting this irresponsible proposal that would cut jobs at Fort Huachuca, harm our Arizona economy and hurt our national security,” Barber said today. “We need to tell the story of Fort Huachuca in person, give the Army the facts about the important work performed here, speak to the ability to grow missions here and show the strong support of our community.”
On December 2, 2014 the Army will hold a public listening session similar to the one they held in April 2013. According to Barber, this will be an opportunity for the community to tell the Army why Fort Huachuca is important to our national defense and the negative impacts that force structure cuts would have on the community. In June, Barber immediately pushed back after the Army opened a 60-day public comment period on its proposal to address budget cuts that will force the Army to reduce its active duty force from 516,753 today to 450,000 in three years and possibly to 420,000 by fiscal year 2019.
In examining the number of military and civilian employees at 30 of its installations, the Army developed a “worst-case” scenario of separations and the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of those cuts. The worst case scenario the Army is assessing for Fort Huachuca would be a cut of 2,700 military and civilian personnel. As soon as the Army posted the proposal in the Federal Register and opened up its comment period, Barber was the first elected official to respond, making the compelling case for why the fort is crucial to our national security and to Arizona.
Barber called on the community to participate in this process and make Arizona’s voice heard. He has worked with local elected officials, chambers of commerce and defense support groups such as the Fort Huachuca 50 and Southern Arizona Defense Alliance to make the case for Fort Huachuca and Southern Arizona.
In July, Barber convened elected officials, including Sierra Vista Mayor Rick Mueller, and other Cochise County stakeholders to organize opposition to the Army proposal.
McSally posted her call to action on her Facebook page: “Time is running out to comment on the Air Force’s proposal to expand training missions at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. You have until Monday, November 24, to email the Air Force and tell them you support D-M, its training programs, and the critical missions that are so important to Tucson. You can email your comments directly to 355fw.pa.comment@us.af.mil. You can also find more information about the Air Force’s proposal at http://www.dm.af.mil/library/tftea.asp.