FORT BRAGG (AP) ó A new Army command unit that is moving to North Carolina will be arriving a few months sooner than expected and make the move while managing two wars on declining federal funding, the commanding general said.
Gen. Charles Campbell said Army Forces Command personnel will arrive at Fort Bragg early in 2011, The Fayetteville Observer reported Thursday. Campbell, speaking to an audience of about 250 at the post, said the move will be stretched over a longer time than expected.
Forces Command is coming to North Carolina from Fort McPherson, Ga., as part of the last round of federal base closing legislation approved in 2005. In addition to Forces Command, the Army’s Reserve Command, which manages reserve forces, will share a new headquarters building now under construction at Bragg.
Campbell said the move comes while officials manage the movement of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and with declining federal revenue.
“We are actually going to start coming a little sooner than we thought and we’re going to expand the period of time in which we come,” Campbell said.
Forces Command is the largest organization in the Army and has the responsibility for oversight, training and equipping 750,000 soldiers, including active duty, Reserve and National Guard.
Campbell said the headquarters of the two commands were scheduled to move by Sept. 15, 2010, but probably will arrive in the spring of that year. About 2,700 military and civilian employees will come to the post along with even more family members.
“We are going to have to execute this move in stride,” Campbell said. “That means we are going to have to retain capabilities in Atlanta while we grow capabilities here at Fort Bragg, not an inconsequential task.”
Campbell also said the military will be facing funding challenges.
“The levels of funding that we have experienced in the last four years are going to decline,” he said. “They are going to decline more precipitously than most of us had anticipated. So we are going to have to do things more efficiently while achieving the same levels of effectiveness.”
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Information from: The Fayetteville Observer, http://www.fayobserver.com