Fort Polk draws most comments against cuts, again

FORT POLK (AP) — Once more, Fort Polk has drawn more support than any other Army base facing potential cuts, with nearly one-third of all comments sent to support 30 bases across the country.
Fort Polk Progress, a nonprofit created to advocate for the base, says Army Environmental Command got more than 111,200 comments, including 34,619 against cuts at Fort Polk.
“I am awed by this response,” said organization chairman Michael Reese. “We were keeping a tally of our own, but this number far exceeds what we were expecting.”
Online responses came from nearly every state and many countries, he said. “This incredible response will be difficult to ignore.”
Command spokeswoman Cathy Kropp says that compares to 21,886 for Fort Benning, Georgia; 17,454 for Fort Jackson, South Carolina; 14,135 for Fort Knox, Kentucky; and 9,233 for Fort Drum, New York. All but about 5,000 were form letters or petitions, Kropp said.
The Army is considering the environmental and economic impacts of cutting its active-duty strength from 490,000 to 420,000 by 2020.
Last year, when 21 bases faced possible cuts, Fort Polk supporters sent nearly half of the 8,000 comments received. At the time, the Army was looking at cutting nearly 5,300 soldiers, nearly 49 percent of those now stationed there.
This year’s maximum cut at Fort Polk is estimated at 6,500 of 10,836 soldiers.
“We are extremely grateful to the businesses, individuals and public officials in Central Louisiana who participated in the letter campaign,” said Deborah Randolph, president of the Central Louisiana Chamber of Commerce. “The tremendous response reveals the level of support the citizens of Louisiana have for Fort Polk and the soldiers and families who serve there.”
Army representatives will meet with local residents in all 30 communities between November and March, Kropp said. She said one question will each community’s plans.
“Many communities will make promises to the military in order to keep their bases. But I can assure you that the Army will look very closely at what communities have already done. And we’ve got a lot to be proud of, with $40 million in new schools, road improvements, infrastructure improvements, advances in quality education, and quality of life improvements continuing around the region,” Reese said.