FORT RILEY — The return of The Big Red One first infantry division from Munich, Germany to Fort Riley has spurred a nine-year building project. Halfway there, more than $1 billion has been spent on the fort, including a gleaming new headquarters.
A legion of newspaper editors took a tour of the base last Friday, led by Col. John Dvoracek, deputy garrison commander for transformation. In the three short years since our last visit, much has changed on the expansive 102,000-acre base.
The invasion of friendly troops in 2006 resulted in an economic boon to area towns of Geary and Riley counties. Soldiers boosted the local economy by nearly $9 million for fiscal year 2010.
Among the new facilities at the post, a new $20 million simulation training center was a highlight of our tour. Inside, soldiers train on high-tech imagery which can simulate any street in the world, gaining the advantage of familiarity in the field.
Civilians, many of whom are retired from the military, often serve as trainers at the post. One obvious advantage is their familiarity with fighting conditions abroad. Another is the continuity they can provide as troops are dispatched at regular intervals around the world. More than 8,000 civilians have jobs on the fort.
“Most everything in the Army requires some kind of technical training,” Dvoracek said.
Most soldiers train for eight to 10 months stateside before they are deployed overseas, where their tours last for usually one year. Upon return, they “decompress and readjust,” for several months before they go through another routine of training in preparation for another yearlong deployment.
A soldier needs to have as much brains as brawn to succeed in today’s Army.
“From fighting in combat, to building bridges to reading a topographical map, today’s soldier needs to be highly trained,” he said. Many Army positions require a college degree, heavy in civil and electrical engineering and computer technology.
Soldiering still requires a strong physique, one soldier said, to which some of today’s life-style choices run contrary.
“We’re finding more and more recruits with rounded shoulders and concave chests from spending too much time hunched over video games,” he said. These lifestyles present more of a challenge for both the Army and the recruits, he said, not to mention those who make their uniforms.
“They are having to take in the shoulders,” he said of the tailors.
About 6,000 of the post’s 18,000 soldiers are deployed overseas at any one time, Dvoracek said. Over a year’s time, 10,000 to 12,000 troops are abroad.
About 1,500 families live on base. The overall population associated with Fort Riley went up more than 2,000 from 2009 to 2010. The fewer deployments overseas, the more likely families will join their soldiers on base.
The added population has created a need for new medical facilities.
Next on tap is a 55,000-square-foot hospital with a $400 million price tag. Though slated to include only 44 beds, the facility will include elaborate outpatient services, including an eight-bed wing for those suffering from post traumatic distress symptoms.
“Our old hospital was built in the 1950s,” Dvoracek said. “It was not worth it to renovate it and try to meet today’s medical standards. It was more prudent to build new.”
Once the hospital is complete, an estimated $50-$60 million in construction is expected each year, as opposed to the current $200 million a year during the expansion.
Fort Riley a boon to area communities
