Months after a public support session in January, community leaders in our region are still working to protect Fort Campbell from the threat of army-wide personnel cuts.
The U.S. Department of Defense plans to slash more than 100,000 soldiers over the next few years, including a potential 16,000 at Fort Campbell.
That’s roughly half the installation’s staff.
Earlier this year, the US Department of Defense held a public forum with about 2,000 Kentucky and Tennessee residents in attendance, including Kentucky Lt. Gov. Crit Luallen.
More recently, a coalition of local and county governments hired a lobbyist and made their case in Washington, D.C.
The group includes representatives from Montgomery and Christian Counties, Hopkinsville, Clarksville and the privately-funded Aspire Clarksville Foundation.
Katie Lopez is the Christian County Chamber of Commerce's Director of Military and Governmental Affairs. She says the meeting allowed residents from both Kentucky and Tennessee to voice their concerns directly to lawmakers.
"It's very difficult when you're at an installation thousands of miles away from the decision makers," Lopez said. "To actually be in those rooms and being able to provide them with the strategic and unique factors about Fort Campbell - it was a great experience for all of us."
Another excursion to Washington is in the works as well.
Lopez says there’s plenty of work left to do before the DoD makes their decision.
“Even though we’re satisfied with the clear message and we’re very proud of our communities for working together to go up there and do those meetings, we still know that we need to keep on our legislators," Lopez said.
She says if the cuts were to go through, Fort Campbell would lose a significant number of civilian employees as well.
An official decision's expected before the end of June.
