The Acting Senior Commander of Fort Riley, Brig. Gen. Eric Wesley rolled out the 1st Infantry Division’s and Fort Riley’s Campaign Plan (CAMPLAN) 2020 update during a joint luncheon between the Junction City Military Affairs Council and the Manhattan Military Relations Committee Wednesday at Fort Riley.
CAMPLAN 2020 is a foundational document that serves as Fort Riley’s roadmap to the future. It has been updated numerous times since it’s inception in 2009 and the most recent update included a modified goal,”1st Infantry Division is the premier war fighting division and Fort Riley is the best place in the Army to train at, deploy from, and come home to.”
The Plan is split into four categories Mission Readiness, Ready and Resilient, Sustainability, and Community. As Brig. Gen. Wesley outlined the plan he highlighted several items in each category.
He explained that under Mission Readiness one of the goals for Fiscal Year 2018 is to be prepared to integrate a third Brigade Combat Team at Fort Riley. He did explain that there is no indication that Fort Riley would gain a third Brigade Combat team but the installation needs to be prepared.
“The point in the Campaign plan that’s a strategic objective is to ensure that, and this is the important part, that Fort Riley is postured in the event that something like that happens,” said Wesley. “In the event there’s a unit that needs a home Fort Riley wants to be the one that says we’ve got space.”
Under the Ready and Resilient section of the campaign it lists the need to establish a Soldier For Life Center of Excellence that will transition support organizations and programs into on location. Wesley said they really want to focus on helping transitioning Soldiers find work right away.
“The way to do that is to give the companies an ability to connect with soldiers earlier. The other factor there is if you’re going into a technical trade, you don’t want to spend a lot of time in school after you get out of the military before you start working again, because that’s a gap in time that can become costly to the soldier. So we want to come up with ways that companies can reach into the Division and be able to train soldiers in a trade as they begin to transition. That way you have a seamless transition.”
An example of some of the strategic objectives under the Sustainability section included the completion of hanger/runway construction for Gre Eagle systems, Privatize Fort Riley Utilities in coordination with local community management, decrease water usage by 26%, Increase Unit Recycling by 200% and Increase Family Recycling by 75%.
Wesley said that the Community section of the plan worries him a little. It’s not the community relationships that concerns him but whether or not they are partnering in the right areas.
The problem is not with the relationship. The problem is to make sure that we are adequately describing an articulating tangible strategic objectives down the road so we can leverage that relationship for not only the community but the readiness of the division. We have a mutual benefit here so we need to make sure we have a tangible pathway forward.”
Wednesday’s Luncheon was held at Riley’s Conference Center and was held in lieu of the monthly Junction City Military Affairs Council breakfast.