The Army is set to dramatically expand how many new recruits it can send to basic training this spring, riding the momentum of recent gains toward reversing a recruiting slump it has struggled with in recent years.
By April, the service expects to have 10 additional basic training units established across Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and Fort Sill, Oklahoma — some of which are already established. In total, that would allow the Army to train up to 9,600 new recruits per year, according to Lt. Col. Randy Ready, a service spokesperson.
The move comes as the Army hit a major recruiting milestone. In January, Military.com was first to report the service reached the halfway mark toward its ambitious goal of bringing in 61,000 active-duty soldiers this fiscal year, which began in October. With recruiting numbers trending upward, officials are banking on a surge to sustain momentum and close the gap left by past shortfalls.
But the Army is also dealing with a logistical challenge: a growing backlog of recruits waiting to ship out. Nearly 11,000 recruits were placed in the Army’s delayed-entry program last year — a program both of applicants who have not yet finished high school or cannot ship to basic training. That figure is double the usual in previous years — partly due to the service running out of space in its existing basic training classes.
A chunk of that training real estate was reallocated to the Future Soldier Preparatory Course, a program launched in 2022 that has been touted as a game-changer in solving the Army’s recruiting crisis.
The course helps applicants who initially fail to meet body weight or academic standards get up to par for enlistment — effectively widening the Army’s recruiting pool at a time when the service is striving to find qualified applicants.
In short, the Army was recruiting faster than it had the ability to get new enlistees into training.
“Expanding basic training capacity is a result of successful recruiting efforts and the Future Soldier Preparatory Course,” Lt. Gen. David Francis, commander for the U.S. Army Center for Initial Military Training, said in a statement to Military.com. “This is a great problem to have as we continue to train the most capable and lethal soldiers for our Army.”
The Army hit its recruiting goal last year, bringing in 55,300 new active-duty recruits, succeeding in its goal of 55,000 after failing to hit the target since the COVID-19 pandemic and generally struggling for much of the past decade. The 11,000 brought in for the delayed entry pool will count toward this year’s recruiting numbers.
A growing number of young Americans fail to meet the Army’s baseline enlistment standards largely due to rising obesity rates and declining academic performance. Defense experts have long warned that the country’s obesity epidemic poses a national security risk, shrinking the pool of eligible recruits.
Another major hurdle: declining scores on the military’s SAT-style entrance exam, which determines what jobs recruits qualify for. Public-school test scores have been slipping for years, a trend exacerbated by the pandemic. The education gap has disproportionately impacted young men, who are now less likely than women to qualify for service.
While the Army has had an ongoing recruiting challenge, recruitment of women has remained relatively flat, with about 10,000 new enlistees every year for the past decade on average.
The Army dug itself out of its recruiting hole largely with the help of the prep courses. A quarter of new recruits who would have otherwise not been permitted to enlist came through the program, as the service has been slow to evolve its marketing practices and hasn’t changed its recruiting practices in any meaningful way.
The program was so successful, the Navy created its own — also seeing promising early results.
That effort has seen high praise from key figures, including President Donald Trump’s pick for Army secretary. Dan Driscoll, an Iraq veteran and financier, said he wants to look into possibly expanding the program.
“[It] seems to be working,” Driscoll said during his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday. “If confirmed, I want to look and see if that can be scaled further.”
]]>Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri – November 14, 2024 –The quarterly Fort Leonard Wood Community Partnership Leadership Committee (FLWCP LC) meeting and Sustainable Ozarks Partnership Update was held on Thursday, November 14, at the Waynesville High School 9th Grade Center Lecture Hall. The FLWCP LC portion of the meeting was co-chaired by SOP Executive Director Dorsey Newcomb and the new FLW Garrison Commander, Colonel Steven Bartley.
The FLWCP LC was established in early 2016, when FLW Region local governments, the state of Missouri, and other public and private organizations signed a charter agreement to form the Committee.
Today the FLWCP LC continues to provide an on-going platform for leaders to discuss partnership opportunities and collaborations that are beneficial for FLW and the region. The committee is co-chaired by the SOP Executive Director and the FLW Garrison Commander.
Newcomb opened the meeting by welcoming those in attendance and underscoring the importance of partnerships between our communities and FLW. COL Bartely then provided opening remarks and thanked the community for their support of FLW, service members, and their families.
The final quarterly meeting of the calendar year saw approximately 30 stakeholders from around the four-county FLW Region along with our Army partners gather to discuss a variety of ongoing and potential partnership projects between our communities and FLW.
The meeting included a presentation by Benchmark Planning regarding the DOD-funded regional Military Installation Resilience Review that is currently underway. COL Bartley gave an update on FLW construction projects, including housing, the hospital, and barracks. The cities of St. Robert and Waynesville provided an update on the new commercial terminal construction project at the joint use airport.
Other topics included the status of a DOD-funded program called Public Schools on Military Installations that would potentially see a significant investment in upgrading one of the R-VI public schools on FLW. Intergovernmental Support Agreements (IGSAs) were discussed by FLW representatives, too.
There was a good exchange by the group around an SOP and FLW collaboration addressing child care capacity, availability, and DOD-funded incentives for off-post providers. Other topics included an update on 5G infrastructure investments on FLW, community support for Holiday Block Leave, and the change in commercial jet service from FLW to Dallas and Chicago.
In conjunction with the FLWCP LC meeting Newcomb provided those in attendance with an update on various collective accomplishments from across the region since the last meeting. Newcomb also spent time describing the SOP’s focus areas going forward.
“It was a pleasure to welcome Colonel Bartley to his first Fort Leonard Wood Community Partnership Leadership Committee meeting to discuss a range of partnerships that can help create efficiencies for Fort Leonard Wood and are mutually beneficial to our local governments and communities. We very much value the great partnerships that our communities have with Fort Leonard Wood,” said Newcomb.
The SOP is building on the Fort Leonard Wood Region’s strong past and preparing the region for a healthy, resilient future. We are a nonprofit organization working to bring all of the region’s stakeholders to the table to drive regional development and advocate for new or expanded military and federal missions, all as part of our efforts to strengthen the Fort Leonard Wood Region.
On Thursday, August 14th, over 215 business, governmental, civic, and military leaders and community members from the Fort Leonard Wood (FLW) Region joined the Sustainable Ozarks Partnership (SOP) for our 12th Annual Meeting at the Ark Community Center in Waynesville.
This year’s SOP meeting theme of “The Fort Leonard Wood Region, Our Partnership Continues” reflected our commitment to the vision of regional communities, governments and organizations, FLW, and state and federal enablers working together as stakeholders to make the region an ever-better place to live, work, and play while enabling FLW mission success and advocating for mission sustainment and growth.
Meeting attendees were welcomed by SOP Chairman, State Representative Bill Hardwick. Leonard Wood Institute (LWI) Board President Mike Dunbar and LWI Board Treasurer and SOP Vice Chairman Steve Ehrhardt recognized each of the 36 SOP Sustaining Members for their outstanding support in keeping the regional momentum going in support of FLW, service members, and their families. Dunbar and Ehrhardt also recognized Larry Sexton for his decades-long wisdom, vision, and leadership in support of our Army, Fort Leonard Wood, Soldiers, their Families, and the four-county Region.
Speakers during the annual meeting included U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt; Congressman Mark Alford (MO-4); Missouri Commissioner of Education Dr. Karla Eslinger; Missouri Civilian Aides to the Secretary of the Army Mr. Joe Driskill and Mr. Rick Morris; Deputy to the Commanding General, MSCoE and FLW Mr. Douglas Babb; AICP, President Benchmark Planning Mr. Jason Epley; South Central Regional Liaison Defense – State Liaison Office, Department of Defense, Military Community and Family Policy Mr. Jeremy Hilton; Missouri Military Advocate Mr. Harry Roberts, and Kit Bond Strategies Principal Mr. Mike DuBois.
SOP Executive Director, Dorsey Newcomb shared seven key takeaways with attendees. These points included:
“It was great to see so many of our regional citizens in attendance and to hear from our elected leaders at all levels, our Army and DOD partners, our state partners, and others on how we can remain unified in our collective work to support the Army, Fort Leonard Wood, service members, and families,” said Newcomb.
As part of his update, Newcomb reported on the progress SOP has made over the past year towards its goals of strengthening the region and FLW and concluded the conference by describing the region’s strategies going forward. During the business meeting portion of the agenda, Newcomb announced that under SOP by-laws the Chairman, Vice Chairman, and Treasurer will continue to serve as SOP Board Officers through 2025.
Fort Leonard Wood (FLW), the city of St. Robert, and the Central Ozark Central Utility Services Alliance (COUSA) recently entered into two significant Intergovernmental Support Agreements (IGSAs) to provide street sweeping and fire extinguisher maintenance on FLW, creating mutually beneficial efficiencies and cost savings.
IGSAs are agreements between the Army and state or local public partners that serve the best interest of both parties and improve installation support services for Mission, Soldier, and Family Readiness. IGSAs are authorized by 10 USC 2679 and can be used as one of many authorities to achieve win-win partnerships.
Army-wide there are over 140 approved IGSAs that provide various services such as pavement repairs and maintenance, municipal services, stray animal control, solid waste management/recycling, grass mowing/vegetation control/composting, research, etc. These two new agreements are now added to the FLW list of existing IGSAs that include providing animal shelter and control services, environmental services, and confinement services.
The installation had previously identified several potential opportunities for IGSAs that included grass mowing services, fire extinguisher maintenance and repair, elevator maintenance, fire suppression maintenance, mass notification, maintenance of appliances, CCTV maintenance and repair, and sanitary refuse.
IGSAs are defined by the following:
Benefits of IGSAs for our military partners include mission sustainment, strengthened community bonds, improved installation operations, facilities, infrastructure, and services, and efficient paths to acquiring installation support services. The benefits for local, regional, and state-qualifying entities include job creation, new revenue streams, increased buying power and general funds, improvement of operations and infrastructure, higher credit ratings, and the opportunity for jobs and money to stay local.
“This is quite an accomplishment for our installation and our community. We have continued to pursue mutually beneficial IGSAs over the years and are glad to see these agreements being reached. We look forward to seeing even more IGSAs come to fruition going forward,” said Sustainable Ozarks Partnership Executive Director Dorsey Newcomb.
The United States Army has appointed two new Civilian Aides to the Secretary of the Army for the state of Missouri. Mr. Joseph Driskill and CSM (R) Rick Morris were sworn into their new positions on January 23, 2024 during a ceremony at the Pentagon.
Both of these individuals have devoted decades to the Fort Leonard Wood Region and Missouri’s entire military community, including service members and military families. Their extensive experience and dedication to supporting the entire Army workforce will benefit the FLW Region, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and the United States Army.
Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri – August 30, 2023 – On Thursday, August 16, over 200 business, government, civic, and military leaders and community members from the Fort Leonard Wood (FLW) Region joined the Sustainable Ozarks Partnership (SOP) for our 11th SOP Annual Meeting at the ARK Community & Sports Center in Waynesville, MO.
This year’s SOP meeting theme of “Our Army, Our Installation, Our Community” reflected the region’s belief that everything we endeavor to do in support of our military partners must first and foremost be in the best interest of the Department of Defense and ultimately, these things can then benefit the Army, FLW, Missouri, and our communities respectively.
Attendees were welcomed by SOP Chairman, State Representative Bill Hardwick. Leonard Wood Institute (LWI) Board President Mike Dunbar and LWI Board Treasurer and SOP Vice Chairman Steve Ehrhardt then recognized each of the 39 SOP Sustaining Members for their outstanding support in keeping the regional momentum going in support of FLW, service members, and their families.
Speakers during the annual meeting included Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe; U.S. Senators Josh Hawley (recorded) and Eric Schmitt (recorded); U.S. Congressman Mark Alford from Missouri’s 4th Congressional District; Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army, Missouri-West Keith Pritchard; Brigadier General Sarah Albrycht, Commandant, U.S. Army Military Police School, Maneuver Support Center of Excellence & FLW; Brigadier General Joe Ricciardi, Deputy Commander Installation Management Command; Missouri Military Advocate Harry Roberts; Lieutenant Colonel Crystal Jones, Commander U.S. Army Kansas City Recruiting Battalion; Mike DuBois, Director, Defense & International, Kit Bond Strategies; Tommy Turner, J.E. Dunn Construction and Travis Lynch, Army Corps of Engineers; and Major General Leonard Wood Foundation Chairman Joe Driskill.
SOP Executive Director Dorsey Newcomb shared four key points to take away from the meeting. They were:
1. The Army and other military services need our help increasing awareness of our nation’s ongoing military recruiting challenges and the resulting implications on our national defense.
2. Our elected leaders at the federal, state, and local level, along with our communities and various stakeholders are unified in our support of FLW, service members, and military families.
3. Through the SOP, the region has adopted an aggressive and proactive strategy to anticipate changes in the defense budget, National Defense Authorization Act, potential changes in force structure, and recruiting that may either positively or negatively impact FLW.
4. Our collective efforts continue to demonstrate to senior civilian and uniformed DOD officials and others the tremendous military value FLW provides to overall military readiness and its potential for the future, as well as our communities’ unrivaled engagement and support.
“It was, once again, great for all of our regional citizens to hear from our elected leaders at all levels, our Army partners, our state partners, and others on how we are all synchronized in our collective work to support the Army, Fort Leonard Wood, service members, and families,” said Newcomb. “I believe LTC Jones’ presentation about the Army’s ongoing challenges and initiatives in “Recruiting the Army of Tomorrow, Today” was particularly enlightening for our community.”
Newcomb also provided an update on the progress SOP has made over the past year towards its goals of strengthening the region and FLW. The meeting concluded with Newcomb describing the region’s strategies going forward.
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Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri – July 19, 2023 – On Wednesday, August 16, 2023, the Sustainable Ozarks Partnership will host our Annual Meeting with the theme “Our Army. Our Installation. Our Community.” The meeting will be held at The Ark Community and Sports Center (25625 MO-17) in Waynesville, Mo.
During the meeting the SOP will report on organizational accomplishments, consider the organization’s performance over the past year, and set objectives for the coming year.
“We look forward to another great annual meeting this year. We are excited for our business, governmental, civic, military leaders, and community members from the four-county region to come together and talk about Our Army, Our Installation and Our Community,” said SOP executive director Dorsey Newcomb.
Those attending this year’s meeting will hear from federal, state, and military leaders about the importance of the Fort Leonard Wood Region’s collective role in supporting our national defense from here in the heartland.
This year’s list of invited speakers includes:
The event is free and open to the public. Those wishing to attend should RSVP by Friday, August 11, 2023, via EventBrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2023-sop-annual-meeting-tickets-662536082257. RSVPs are needed to plan accordingly for the venue and to get an accurate lunch count. Any questions about the annual meeting can be sent to: [email protected].
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In early May, Fort Leonard Wood hosted the 2023 CASA Conference for over 100 CASAs, their spouses, and senior Army leaders, including Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth.
CASAs are business and community leaders appointed by the Secretary to advise and support Army leaders across the country. This year marked the 100th anniversary of the CASA program.
During this year’s conference, Fort Leonard Wood provided a close up look at the critical training conducted on the installation to our nation’s CASAs. Conference attendees were able to experience an Engineer training area, visit STEM village, and talk with basic trainees.
Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth recently announced that the 2023 Civilian Aides to the Secretary of the Army (CASAs) Annual Conference will be held at Fort Leonard Wood (FLW). The conference will be held in early May and will bring over 100 CASAs and their spouses, along with senior Army leaders to FLW and our communities.
CASAs are business and community leaders appointed by the Secretary to advise and support Army leaders across the country. CASAs come from many professions including business, education, finance, industry, law, the media, medicine, and public service. Each is proactively involved in the community and brings to the position an interest in the Army, a high degree of business and civic leadership, and an ability to influence the public.
CASAs are Special Government Employees who agree to serve as representatives of the Secretary of the Army without salary, wages or related benefits, and are afforded a 3-star protocol status. Each CASA is committed to supporting all Department of Army Civilians, Soldiers and their Families.
In particular, CASAs partner with the Soldier for Life program to assist Soldiers as they transition from the Army. You can read Secretary Wormuth’s proclamation recognizing the 100th anniversary of the CASA program at: https://casacac.army.mil/Documents/Final100thAnniversaryProclamation.pdf
Missouri has two CASAs that serve in these unique positions: Mr. Keith W. Pritchard, Missouri-West and BG (retired) Tracy E. Beckette, Missouri-East.
The Sustainable Ozarks Partnership is building on the Fort Leonard Wood Region’s strong past and preparing the region for a healthy, resilient future. We are a nonprofit organization working to bring all of the region’s stakeholders to the table to drive regional development and advocate for new or expanded military and federal missions, all as part of our efforts to strengthen the Fort Leonard Wood region.
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Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri – January 30, 2023 – Mayor Dr. George Lauritson of the City of St. Robert was recently selected as a 2023 Defense Community Champion by the Association of Defense Communities. He is one of 17 selected from across the country this year.
Defense Community Champions represent a wide range of leaders who, in different ways, are all committed to serving their local installations and improving the lives of service members and their families.
Mayor Lauritson served successfully as the Chairman of the Fort Leonard Wood (FLW) Region’s Sustainable Ozarks Partnership (SOP) from August 2017 to August 2022. The SOP’s accomplishments are in large part attributed to Mayor Lauritson’s leadership, including improvements in the areas of partnerships that support FLW’s mission success; military family quality of life, infrastructure resiliency, regional transportation access, regional healthcare; quality of public education; military spouse and transitioning service member employment initiatives.
Lauritson was responsible for creating two iterations of the organization’s three year strategic plan that formalized and focused the region’s support for FLW, service members and families.
The most recent noteworthy accomplishment is the completion of a regional military spouse employment needs assessment survey. Information gathered from military connected spouses (active duty, retirees, veterans, guard/reserve, and all branches) is now being used to analyze and communicate the qualifications, experiences, needs, and preferences of the region’s military spouses. Survey findings were shared with state and local leaders, military officials, and other stakeholders who are working together to increase employment and career opportunities for military spouses across the region.
He also led our community to receive one of the first Army Community Partnership awards from the Under Secretary of the Army. The award recognized FLW and SOP for success in strengthening installation readiness and resilience through the interconnection of water resources between the installation and the city of St. Robert. This partnership provides reciprocal backup water supplies during emergency situations improving water resiliency and enhancing installation readiness.
Outstanding leadership is the lesson best learned from Mayor Lauritson’s story. His unparalleled leadership and direct involvement in the region’s defense community support organization has set the example for other locally elected leaders across the country.
“Mayor Lauritson has demonstrated that engaged leadership can shape strategic planning that formalizes and focuses a region’s support for military installations, service members and military families. He has shown us all how a Mayor of a small rural town outside of a world class Army training installation in the heart of America can galvanize a four-county region’s support for national defense. He has ensured that our communities remain grounded in the belief that everything we endeavor to do with our military partners is done under the premise that it must first and foremost be in the best interest of the Department of Defense. He leads our community in understanding that ultimately these things can then mutually benefit the Army, FLW, Missouri, and our communities respectively,” said SOP Executive Director Dorsey Newcomb.
The Sustainable Ozarks Partnership is building on the Fort Leonard Wood Region’s strong past and preparing the region for a healthy, resilient future. We are a nonprofit organization working to bring all of the region’s stakeholders to the table to drive regional development and advocate for new or expanded military and federal missions, all as part of our efforts to strengthen the Fort Leonard Wood region.
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