FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 22, 2004
CONTACT: Kevin Schweers
THOUSANDS OF NEW U.S. TROOPS COMING TO TEXAS
Senator Hutchison Pressed Army to Re-evaluate Force Structure, Consider Texas Bases
WASHINGTON, DC -- Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) received advanced notice from the Secretary of the Army today that an additional 5,000 troops will be stationed at Fort Hood in 2005 and 3,800 will be coming to Fort Bliss in 2006. Sen. Hutchison has persistently urged the Pentagon to recognize Texas installations as ideal for U.S. forces.
"This is great news for our national security. This is great news for taxpayers. And this is a strong vote of confidence in Texas," said Sen. Hutchison. "Fort Hood and Fort Bliss have the facilities and capacity to fully support these troops and the Army's need to strategically position its forces.
"For years I have told the Pentagon that Texas bases offer more space and fewer training restrictions than those elsewhere in the military system. As Chairman of the Military Construction Appropriations Subcommittee, I have tried to assure that Texas bases have the facilities to house and train troops most efficiently and effectively. Now these efforts are coming to fruition," Sen. Hutchison added.
Sen. Hutchison has long urged Pentagon officials to recognize Texas facilities as the ideal bases in the Department of Defense's global system. For example, in Grafenwoehr, Germany, U.S. troops train on tank and artillery ranges used by the Bavarian Army more than a century ago. The Army has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the complex in the past decade, even though the best training area consists of only 18,000 acres of land, a postage stamp compared to the hundreds of thousands of acres of maneuver area and ranges available in Texas.
To ensure bases overseas have the same scrutiny that those in Texas will face in the upcoming 2005 base realignment and closure (BRAC), Sen. Hutchison enacted an Overseas Basing Commission (OBC). This month the OBC held its first hearing and the panel will provide a report with its conclusions and recommendations to the president and Congress by December 31, 2004. At the hearing the committee heard that if, as has been suggested in the media, the Pentagon returns 29,000 soldiers from Germany - approximately two divisions - we would save $400-$575 million annually and give our troops far better training capabilities and opportunities.
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