Kentucky welcomes 3400 soldiers and 1000 new families to Ft. Knox

October 17, 11:39 AMLouisville City Hall ExaminerThomas McAdam

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(Graphic:  U.S. Army)

One of our country’s largest military installations is located just 35 miles South of Louisville, at Fort Knox. Home of the Army Armor Center and the U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Fort Knox encompasses 109,000 acres in three Kentucky counties, and has a population of over 23,000 Soldiers, family members and civilians.

Friday, Fort Knox leadership held an activation ceremony to welcome more than 2,000 newly-arrived soldiers of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team from Fort Hood, Texas recently reassigned to Fort Knox. Eventually, more than 3,400 new soldiers and their families will be added to the post. The total new families are estimated to number about 1000.

Change of command, Ft. Knox (Photo:  U.S. Army)

Col. Christopher R. Toner, commander of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, told FOX-41-TV that he has been stationed in Kentucky before. "The Kentucky hospitality is something welcoming," said Toner. "I've long looked forward to getting back here. Tried so many times to get back here and finally made it back here. It's awesome being here."

The activation ceremony marks the beginning of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) transformation on Fort Knox, and soldiers and their families have been arriving since April. Sheila Enyart, Radcliff's mayor, told FOX-41: "We are an Army community -- we love the soldiers, and this just brings another presence to the community." Enyart says she hopes the military will consider bringing even another brigade to the area. "We've been preparing for this base realignment and closure now for several years, and we're ready. We're just thrilled -- bring 'em all on -- we're ready."

Training at Ft. Knox (Photo:  U.S. Army)

Several new facilities have been built to meet the needs of the brigade. The remainder of the 3rd Brigade soldiers are expected to arrive by the spring of 2010.

Folks in the surrounding towns of Radcliff, West Point, Bardstown, Elizabethtown, and Metro Louisville join in welcoming our new neighbors to Kentucky.  Since the old Camp Knox was expanded, during the First World War, Fort Knox and its military families have been an important part of our community.  We are glad to have them here, and we thank them for their service to our nation.

Fort Knox officials report that the (BRAC) transformation at Fort Knox will eventually include the following units:

Organization - Estimated Arrival 

• AAA St Louis -  Arrived 2006
• 19th Engineer Battalion - Arrived 2006
• F Company 3rd SARG - Arrived 2007
• 11th Theater Aviation Cmd HQ - Arrived 2007
• Ohio Valley Vet Command - Arrived 2007
• 3rd Sustainment Command - Arrived 2007
• Recruiting Support Command - Arrived 2008
• 70th Division - Arrived 2008
• 502nd Bridge Company - Arrived 2008
• 533d FEST - Arrived 2008
• 1/10th Air Support (Air Force) - 2008
• 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division - 2009
• Accessions & Cadet Command - 2009-2011
• 84th Reserve Command - 2009-2011
• 9th Engineer Battalion - 2011
• 100th Division - 2010-2011

Human Resource Command - 2010-2011

Learn more: Official Ft. Knox web site
 

Watch the video: FOX-41’s Stephan Johnson reports

Watch the video: Army News Watch

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