Brigadier General Eric Wesley of Fort Riley and the First Infantry Division touched on an upcoming Army listening session during comments to a Leaders Retreat audience in Overland Park Friday.

The Friday-Saturday Retreat included about 235 registered participants from the Manhattan, Junction City, and Wamego chambers of commerce.

Judd Liebau, Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce board member, said the point of Wesley’s message was the importance of the Army listening session Feb. 9 at the convention center in Junction City,”where brass will be in town to hear input about the importance of Fort Riley to our community, and our community’s importance to Fort Riley soldiers.”

Liebau said Wesley provided motivation to attend the session. “And I would implore anyone who has an interest in maintaining Fort Riley’s presence in the region to get to the Courtyard ( Courtyard By Marriott Convention Center ) on the ninth.”

The listening session is scheduled from 3:30 – 5:30 p.m. Feb. 9. It is open to the public.

The Retreat included discussion on topics ranging from regional branding to land use. The site for the event was the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center in Overland Park.