When the Army announced its drawdown from 570,000 to 490,000 in 2013, the post was able to avoid any losses. The effects of the continued drawdown have now been felt as it was announced that the American Army would continue to reduce its standing Army from 490,000 personnel to 450,000. The loss of approximately 40,000 more from the current Army will be complete by the end of September 2017. Each state with Army posts received cuts; and after many struggles to defend Fort Benning, the Georgia military installation was not immune to defense budget reductions.

The Army eliminated two more of its remaining 32 brigades, one of which was the 3^rd Brigade, currently stationed at Fort Benning. Some will argue that this is the worst-case scenario, but one might then counter that, although the brigade is being downsized to a Battalion Task Force, we were able to keep thousands more military jobs. Having realized that, the region and Washington must renew our efforts and continue to fight on behalf of Fort Benning to minimize the effects of the pending Sequestration in the years to come.

Assisting us is the Spectrum/Principi Group, a professional consultant group in Washington, D.C. With their and the Columbus Regional communities support in a letter-writing campaign and superb response to the Department of Army Community Listening Session no doubt resulted in saving thousands upon thousands of jobs that were on the chopping block 

On behalf of the region, we are launching an aggressive media awareness and social engagement campaign that includes informative Public Service Announcements (PSAs) on both TV and radio, billboards, and an interactive website featuring updates, articles, videos, an online petition, and a pre-written letter citizens can sign and mail to their representatives.

Our fight to preserve the strength and integrity of Fort Benning has only just begun. It is important that our Regional community – which includes Columbus, Phenix City, our Metropolitan Support Area and the post itself – remain armed with the most current information regarding Sequestration; maintain vigilance in showing their dedication to Fort Benning; and let those in political power know that we and they must protect our post. We have Benning’s back, because Benning has always had ours. 

The purpose of the press conference is to update the media as well as the business and military communities, describing our continued and renewed attack against Sequestration.  Please attend as your support is critical during these challenging times.