Category: Fort Knox

  • KRDA offers 5 factors driving local optimism

    It’s hard to believe that a little less than three months ago, we were celebrating the news Fort Knox was selected as the location for the Army’s new corps headquarters. The coronavirus has had a tremendous impact on our region, our nation and the world, including our military and Fort Knox.

    As CEO of the Knox Reg­ional Development Alli­ance, I am in regular contact with Fort Knox leaders and Department of Defense officials and I want to update the community on the latest developments.

    • Fifth Corps is coming.

    Its activation still is scheduled for October 2020, bringing approximately 635 soldiers and their families to our region, including a three-star general who will command the organization. The new Corps Headquarters will be responsible for command and control of Army operational forces in Europe and 200 soldiers from the unit eventually will be deployed on rotation to Europe, while their families remain here.

    The DOD has extended its Stop Move order through June 30, which means these new families won’t begin arriving until later this summer. It may take longer before the unit is fully staffed, but that does not change the October activation. Fort Knox will become one of only four installations in the Army with a Corps Headquarters, putting our post in an elite class.

    • Access to Fort Knox is unrestricted, but wear a mask.

    There are currently no limitations regarding access to post, but you are required to wear a mask at most establishments. Free face masks/coverings are not available at Fort Knox, so plan accordingly. There always is the possibility of increasing health protection conditions that would limit access to authorized personnel only — which includes workforce, Fort Knox residents, persons with permitted services such as retirees.

    With the current progress in Kentucky and the community around Fort Knox, I feel confident access will remain unrestricted.

    • The status of Cadet Sum­mer Training 2020 is unknown.

    Each summer Fort Knox hosts the Army’s largest training exercise – Cadet Summer Training – for thousands of Army ROTC cadets from colleges and universities all over the country. Hundreds of additional officers and non-commissioned officers make up the cadre of instructors.

    Unfortunately, with the DOD Stop Move order extended until June 30, we know that if cadet summer training happens, it will be greatly abbreviated. Cadet Command is continuing to work with Army leadership on various courses of action, but whatever the outcome, it is almost assured the region will not experience the typical increased visits to local restaurants or the added hotel stays CST often brings.

    I know that is incredibly unwelcome news given the economic toll coronavirus restrictions have taken, but we think it is important to be up front and realistic about the outlook. The leadership at Fort Knox is sensitive to and concerned about the potential impact.

    • Fort Knox is critical to our nation’s defense and our regional economy.

    For more than a century, Fort Knox has played a critical role in our nation’s defense and that continues today. With missions like Army Human Resources Command, Army Cadet Command and Army Recruiting Command, what happens at Fort Knox impacts every soldier and their family. The 1st Theater Sustainment Command, 1st Army Division East, and 19th Engineer Battalion along with Army Reserve and National Guard units further Fort Knox’s strategic importance. The addition of Fifth Corps makes a great installation even better.

    Fifth Corps also makes our economy stronger with an estimated $50 million in new payroll, along with additional defense contractor spending adding to the post’s annual $2.6 billion economic impact.

    While I know that doesn’t improve the current circumstances faced by businesses, I hope it can provide some reassurance that as the economy reopens, Fort Knox’s growth will bring added spending power in these tough economic times.

    • This community is the very best.

    There is no doubt we are facing unprecedented times, but like always, there are countless examples of your caring, collaborative and supportive spirit. It is what sets our region apart from other defense communities.

    Your continued support to Fort Knox, its soldiers and their families remains unwavering. I can’t thank you enough and express how proud Beth Avey, KRDA’s first vice president, and I are to represent you in our work to strengthen Fort Knox and grow defense-related business in our region. If we can be of assistance, don’t hesitate to contact us.

  • Mission Knox

    Mission Knox

    As we all know, being good neighbors to Fort Knox is critically important and that includes land use and land development. We are pleased to share that the Department of Defense’s Office of Economic Adjustment selected one of our great community partners, the Lincoln Trail Area Development District (LTADD), to conduct a Compatible Use Plan Study. The goal of the study is to increase compatibility and cooperation between Fort Knox and neighboring local governments so that both can continue to thrive in mutually supportive roles. To accomplish that, the LTADD is undertaking a comprehensive study of land use in the region surrounding Fort Knox.  KRDA CEO Jim Iacocca is serving on the executive committee overseeing this important work. This study is beneficial to both the future of Fort Knox as well as our local government partners. As public meetings are scheduled, we encourage everyone to participate. For more information visit missionknox.org or follow Mission Knox on Facebook.

  • V Corps creates new excitement

    Source: The News-Enterprise 

    It’s been a decade since the tanks left Fort Knox.

    The Base Realignment and Closure initiative of 2005 folded the U.S. Army Armor School and its related missions into a new Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Georgia, in 2010.

    After a 71-year relationship with tankers, the final Fort Knox Armor graduates were recognized in June 2011 – days after the final units had cased their colors for the move south.

    BRAC arrived locally with a lot of buzz and great promise. The “big inhale” as it was called at the time, brought Human Resources Command, Cadet Command and Recruiting Command as permanent missions under the three-star Accessions Command. This new mission for Fort Knox came with construction of the largest office complex in all of Kentucky, new residents arriving from metropolitan centers around St. Louis, Indianapolis and Washington, D.C., plus a surge in payroll that thrilled retailers, restaurants and Realtors across our region.

    Added to the new emphasis on human resources, BRAC also brought the Duke Brigade to Fort Knox. Formally known as the 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, this was a combat unit that would train and work on post when not deployed.

    All of Kentucky was excited about the growth. The General Assembly responded with $150 million to beef up infrastructure despite a tight budget projection.

    But before the state opened the Elizabethtown-to-Radcliff Connector – the road now known as Patriot Parkway which was a central element of its BRAC commitment – things began to change.

    Accessions Command was shuttered in reaction to an Obama-era budget cut announced in 2011. The Duke Brigade was inactivated as part of troop reductions in 2014. And the excitement around the BRAC promise withered.

    The sense of excitement and promise returned last week when the Army announced Fort Knox has been selected as home for its new corps headquarters.

    The Fifth Corps or V Corps will bring 635 additional soldiers and a new three-star command to the post. While firm numbers are not yet known, preliminary estimates say the decision will mean another $58.4 million in compensation on post, another $8.5 million tied to contracts and increase in consumer spending of $97.6 million across the region.

    That’s huge by any measure.

    The leadership at Fort Knox, Kentucky’s Congressional delegation and Knox Regional Development Alliance all did their parts to provide the information necessary to convince the Army that Fort Knox had just what V Corps needs — including a supportive pro-military community beyond the gates.

    Sometime in October, the Maude Center will be fully utilized again. Between now and then, look for traffic to increase, moving trucks to arrive and cash registers to ring more often.

    Welcome to V Corps and thanks to all who appropriately recognized that Fort Knox and its friendly neighbors had so much more to offer.

    This editorial reflects a consensus of The News-Enterprise editorial board.

  • McConnell celebrates Army announcement in Radcliff

    Source: The News-Enterprise

    Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who joined with other Kentucky leaders to encourage the Army to place its new corps headquarters at Fort Knox, came to Radcliff to share in the community celebration Friday.

    McConnell specifically praised the work of Knox Regional Development Alliance, a private organization started in 2015 to promote the post with an emphasis on increasing military investment here and attracting new missions.

    Beth Avey, vice president of KRDA, said praise belongs to the thousands of quality employees on post and a supportive community.

    “Really it is the community and their work to support soldiers and families that is a testament to us being able to tell the story of Fort Knox and that great installation and this great community,” Avey said at a news conference held at Colvin Community Center following a luncheon for McConnell with community and business leaders from four counties including the KRDA board.

    The Fifth Corps, also known as V Corps, will bring a ninth general officer mission to the post. Commanded by a three-star general, it will have 635 soldiers here plus a rotating group of 200 in Europe.

    Radcliff Mayor J.J. Duvall said the Army’s announcement “solidified what we know and the rest of the world knows now, we are a world-class installation.”

    McConnell left Radcliff with a thousand accolades plus a couple gifts. Noting that Friday was Valentine’s Day, Duvall gave McConnell an I Love Radcliff T-shirt featuring a large heart. After the news conference, community advocate Barbara Proffitt gave him one of her signature pecan pies.

    McConnell said expects the corps’ arrival this fall to be met with similar enthusiasm.

    “When the Fifth Corps officially activates here later this year, I’m very confident they are going to get a big warm welcome from this great community.”

  • Maude Complex to house V Corps

    Source: The News-Enterprise

    Command of post won’t be altered by new mission

    The arrival of V Corps at Fort Knox this fall brings a senior-level command to the post and the return of a three-star general, but is not expected to change the post’s command structure, according to the Public Affairs Office.

    “Although the V Corps commander will be the senior-ranking general officer here, the Department of the Army determined the commander of U.S. Army Cadet Command will remain dual-hatted in retaining senior commander responsibilities for the installation,” the public affairs statement said.

    The headquarters is expected to bring another 635 soldiers to Fort Knox and attract additional military contractors. Its mission is to direct and support U.S. forces and operations in Europe, where it also will maintain a rotational Operational Command Post with another 200 soldiers.

    Also known as the Fifth Corps, the Army’s newest corps headquarters will primarily be housed in the Lt. Gen. Timothy J. Maude Complex, an 883,180-square-foot facility billed as the largest office building in Kentucky and second only to the Pentagon among U.S. military structures.

    It was built as part of the 2005 Base Re­align­­ment and Closure in­itiative that changed Fort Knox from its traditional mission as Home of Armor to a center focused on recruitment and human resources.

    The Maude Complex was built off Spearhead Division Avenue near Wil­son Road as part of BRAC to house Access­ions Comm­and and its related missions including Human Resources Command, which remains the primary occupant of the structure. Accessions relocated from Fort Monroe, Virginia, with its three-star general in command, but was deactivated by the Army in January 2012 in a cost-cutting move.

    That decision benefited efforts to bring the V Corps to Fort Knox. The Army wants the unit in place by October and cited available facilities at Fort Knox as a primary reason for its selection.

    Col. C.J. King, garrison commander at Fort Knox, said in a news conference Wednesday the Maude Center made activation of V Corps here an easy choice.

    “Cost was probably a factor here,” King said. “There is minimal investment really required in this facility. This was designed for a three-star headquarters. It’s been vacant for a long time. Really and truly this unit can almost move in.”

    Jim Iacocca, the retired general who heads the Knox Regional De­velop­ment Alliance which campaigned to land this mission, repeatedly stressed Fort Knox offered “the capability and capacity” to meet V Corps’ needs.

    Other factors the De­partment of the Army evaluated in determining V Corps’ location included network infrastructure, transportation proximity and the availabilities of schools, services and other resources for personnel and their families. The detailed analysis included a variety of factors including a desired time zone in which basic work schedules would coincide with the corps’ European staff, according to Kentucky Congressional delegation.

    Radcliff Mayor J.J. Duvall said Fort Knox’s status in the military community is elevated by Tuesday’s announcement.

    “This puts Knox in an elite group of posts with this type of command and a three-star (general) at the post,” Duvall said Wednesday.

    The Army’s three existing corps headquarters are known as I Corps at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash­ington; III Corps at Fort Hood, Texas; and XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

    Finding a location for its a fourth corps headquarters has been a priority studied for months by the Army as part of its national defense strategy.

    The V Corps name, which first was announced Tuesday, has a legacy within the military.

    V Corps originally was activated in 1918 during World War I as part of the American Expeditionary Forces in France and played roles in every major campaign in the European theater as well as in Afghanistan and Iraq before inactivating in 2013. The command also has historical ties to Fort Knox, as units assigned to the V Corps area trained here throughout the 1920s and ’30s, according to the Fort Knox Public Affairs Office.

  • Ft. Knox Selected for New Army HQ

    Utilizing his role as Majority Leader, McConnell raised Kentucky’s priorities to the highest levels of the federal government. He led Kentucky’s Congressional representatives in urging the Army to locate the new corps headquarters at Fort Knox.

    U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02) announced today that at their request the Department of the Army selected Fort Knox to be the home of the new corps headquarters that is urgently needed to fulfill National Defense Strategy requirements and support U.S. forces and operations in Europe.

    According to the Army, Fort Knox will be the fourth corps headquarters location activated and will be called Fifth Corps (V Corps). This new corps headquarters location will bring approximately 635 additional soldiers to Kentucky, which is one of the most military-friendly states in America. The Army plans to activate V Corps Headquarters by the fall of 2020.

    Earlier this month, Senator McConnell led Kentucky’s Congressional representatives in urging Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy and Chief of Staff of the Army General James McConville to locate Fort Knox for the fourth corps headquarters location.

    Today’s announcement builds on Senator McConnell’s continued efforts throughout his Senate career as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee to provide robust funding and budget stability for the Department of Defense with particular commitment to ensuring Kentucky’s defense communities and military installations receive the resources they need. Senator McConnell has secured hundreds of millions of dollars for Fort Knox infrastructure and facilities.

    “Fort Knox has proven itself as a leader in our nation’s armed forces time and again, and I’m delighted to announce Secretary McCarthy and General McConville answered my call to station V Corps headquarters in Kentucky,” said Senator McConnell. “As the Army continues modernizing its force structure to counter evolving global threats, Fort Knox is best choice to meet our urgent national defense needs. With its unmatched level of community support, Fort Knox will offer V Corps a warm welcome.

    “Throughout its 100-plus years of distinguished history, Fort Knox has adapted to complete many high-priority missions. I’ve delivered substantial federal investment to help build facilities and infrastructure at Fort Knox, ensuring there is no installation better prepared to stand-up this headquarters,” Senator McConnell continued. “As Senate Majority Leader, I consistently raise Kentucky’s priorities with military leaders, including by hosting Defense Secretary Mark Esper last year to meet with the Knox Regional Development Alliance, and I’m glad they recognized the great potential of this community. I congratulate Fort Knox’s leadership and the KRDA on this announcement, and I look forward the V Corps’ arrival in the Bluegrass State.”

    “As a staunch defender of Kentucky’s military installations and a fierce advocate for our nation’s armed forces, I am thrilled to announce the selection of Fort Knox for the newest Army headquarters and look forward to welcoming the troops to our beautiful Commonwealth,” said Senator Paul. “From working to protect Fort Knox’s energy independence capabilities, to advocating for service members at all of our military bases to be counted correctly by the census, I’m proud to be a voice for Kentucky’s soldiers, their families, and their communities.”

    “I am proud to announce that Fort Knox has been selected for this new three-star command,” said Congressman Guthrie. “I personally spoke to Defense Secretary Mark Esper about their application last week. Fort Knox and the surrounding communities have the assets and the attitude to host these new soldiers and their families. Kentucky is a great place to be a soldier, and I look forward to welcoming the over six hundred troops that will be coming to Fort Knox as soon as October 2020.”

    Source: U.S. Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell