02.24.16

Sullivan Reacts to Army Chief of Staff’s Testimony that 4-25 Troops Should be Kept in Alaska

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) released the following statement today after U.S. Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley testified during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing that the 4-25 Infantry Brigade Combat Team (ABN) should not be removed from Alaska for at least another year.

“General Milley’s testimony today confirms what I have been arguing for the past year – removing the U.S. Army’s 4-25 Infantry Brigade Combat Team (ABN) makes zero strategic sense,” said Senator Sullivan. “The 4-25 is the only extreme cold weather and mountain-trained airborne brigade combat team in the entire U.S. Army, and the only one strategically located to respond to threats in the Asia-Pacific and the Arctic. This kick-in-the-door capability is vital to our national security and provides deterrence against increasingly aggressive actions from Russia, China, and North Korea. Since General Milley was first nominated, I have appreciated his willingness to listen and understand why the 4-25 is important, not just to Alaska, but to our interests across the globe. And while General Milley’s public testimony today is an important step, there is still work to be done to ensure that the 4-25 is retained in Alaska and the entire U.S. Army remains ready to fight and win if called upon. I’ve told General Milley and others that the U.S. could send a strong message about U.S. resolve against the world’s destabilizing and aggressive powers by not removing a single solider from JBER. Today, our nation should be thankful that General Milley sent that message.”

Background:

During his first year in the Senate, Senator Sullivan, as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has relentlessly championed the effort to fully retain the 4-25 IBCT (ABN) – a critically strategic national security asset for the United States – in Alaska. 

  • For the past fourteen months, Senator Sullivan has devoted hundreds of hours to making the case that keeping the 4-25 IBCT (ABN) at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) is in the national interest of the U.S. Army, the Department of Defense, and the U.S. as a whole. 
  • From countless hearings, meetings, and visits with senior Department of Defense leaders – including President Barack Obama, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dunford, Chief of Staff of the Army General Mark Milley, Acting-Secretary of the Army Patrick Murphy, Nominee to be Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning – Senator Sullivan has engaged at the highest levels to fight to keep the U.S. Army’s only extreme-cold weather and mountain-trained airborne brigade in the Pacific and the Arctic. 
  • In addition, Senator Sullivan has helped inform his colleagues on the Senate Armed Services Committee of how important Alaska’s 4-25 IBCT (ABN) is to promoting U.S. interests in the Pacific and the Arctic and has raised the issue weekly in the Armed Services Committee. Recently, a bipartisan group of Senators on the committee publically shared concerns with senior Department of Defense officials. 
  • With their full bipartisan support, Senator Sullivan included an amendment in last year’s defense authorization to require the Department of Defense to produce a new Arctic Strategy and an Operation Plan (OPLAN) for the Arctic region. 
  • During Armed Services hearings, Senator Sullivan received commitments from senior DOD leadership to not remove soldiers from the 4-25 IBCT (ABN) until the Arctic OPLAN is completed. In public and private meetings, he pressed U.S. Army and DOD senior leaders to re-evaluate the earlier Army decision and in the process, the Army put a hold on the decision to remove troops from Alaska.
  • Two weeks ago, General Milley made good on a promise he made to Senator Sullivan in his nomination hearing and accompanied Senator Sullivan to Alaska to assess the 4-25 IBCT (ABN) issue. 
  • Last week, Senator Sullivan watched soldiers from the 4-25 IBCT (ABN) execute a nighttime-training at Joint Forcible Entry Operation into Fort Polk, Louisiana. In addition, Senator Sullivan also regularly meets with the leadership of Alaska Command and U.S. Army Alaska and the soldiers and airmen that serve underneath them.

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