Many in the Flint Hills region realize the asset that Fort Riley is to the community, but many may not know the asset that the installation is to the armed forces.

In the past year, 26,000 individuals have come through Fort Riley for some type of training – this includes Airmen, Marines, Reservists, National Guard, local and state law enforcement, and also ROTC programs from area colleges.

Bill Raymann, Chief of Training of the Directorate of Plans, Mobilization, Training and Security (DPTMS), said that Fort Riley’s training capabilities are unmatched in military installations across the country.

“One of the great things about being here at Fort Riley and the way the post is situated and the great training area that we do have allows us to allow armored companies and infantry companies to basically train in the maneuver area using live ammunition, so they’re able to train exactly how they would fight,” said Raymann.

Geographically, the natural waterways that border the base, in addition to the largely rural, underpopulated area bordering the northwest side of the installation allows for “live” training.

“They’re able to integrate aviation [in to their training],” said Raymann. “We’ll have helicopters, and other aviation assets actually fire, and fire not on a fixed range which allows the Commander the make the decisions on where he needs to be and where his soldiers need to be; the only other place that we’re aware of here in the United States that they do that is at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, and each brigade of course will go out there prior to a deployment…the capability to do that here at Fort Riley is somewhat unique among Army installations.”

In addition to the live fire training, Fort Riley is a trailblazer in technological training capabilities.

At the Seitz Regional Training Center on Fort Riley soldiers are able to practice real war scenarios on varying types and levels of simulators.

These simulators, which may seem like video games to an onlooker take virtual reality to the next level with sophistication such as feeling fatigue, driving an armored tank and seeing the bullet damage to the windshield, having to differentiate between the enemy and allies without just shooting everyone in sight, as well as practicing communication skills with your team via headsets or other technology – it’s far more than a day of playing Call of Duty.

Fort Riley prides itself being open and inclusive to the community whether it’s training capabilities or simply just keeping the door open to civilians.

“Our campaign plan, which we unveiled last year…talks about the unique relationship between the First Infantry Division, and the Flint Hills,” said Deputy Commanding General of the First Infantry Division, Brigadier General Patrick Frank.

Frank says that Fort Riley is an “integral part” of the community, adding that the 1st Infantry Division is not just a part of Fort Riley, but it also belongs to all Kansans.

“The vast majority of our married soldiers live off base, so when those soldiers come in to the Flint Hills, they know that most likely they’re going to have a pending deployment out there; he or she understands that their family will be taken care of here in the Flint Hills, that they’ll be welcomed in to those neighborhoods – and that means a lot to a soldier who is on a nine month deployment in to theaters around the world,” said Frank.

Local and regional media were invited to tour and take part in some of the training means available for soldiers and regional partners.