Secretary of the Army Esper visits JBER

The 23rd and current Secretary of the Army, Dr. Mark Esper, visited Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Fort Wainwright and Fort Greely to assess the readiness and training of Alaska-based units, visit Army installations, and speak with Soldiers, families and civilians last week.

During the visit, Esper got an up-close look at

U. S. Army Alaska units, the Alaska National Guard, and some Air Force capabilities in the state.

At both Fort Wainwright and JBER, Esper began his visit with Soldiers doing physical readiness training. At Fort Wainwright, he joined the 25th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division for some circuit training; at JBER he participated with Soldiers from 6th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne).

While at Fort Greely, Esper met with Soldiers from the 49th Missile Defense Battalion, whose primary job is manning and maintaining more than 40 ground-based interceptor missiles. He then got a chance to go to the Cold Regions Test Center and experience the effect of minus 60 degrees Celsius on people and equipment, followed by a trip to the Northern Warfare Training Center where a mountaineering class was ongoing.

On Wednesday, Esper conducted town hall meetings at both Fort Wainwright and JBER, fielding questions and concerns.

For much of his visit, Esper was accompanied by U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan. While at JBER, they held a joint press conference at which both emphasized the strategic geographic location of Alaska and the powerful power project platform it provides the military. Esper pointed out Alaska’s special importance given the threats posed by near-peer competitors China and Russia.

“It doesn’t take much to look at the map and understand Alaska’s geography with regard to Russia and China,” Esper said. “Not just geography, but then knowing how to operate, function, and as I like to say, deploy, fight, and win in an arctic environment.”

“We are the cornerstone of our nation’s missile defense. We are the hub of air combat power for the Asia-Pacific and the Arctic,” said Sullivan. “We are a platform for expeditionary forces - the 4-25, the 1st Stryker Brigade and the Army National Guard – to deploy on a moment’s notice anywhere in the world.”

In his first address to the Army in November last year, Esper explained his priorities, the third of which is reform – “improving the way we do business, including how we implement these priorities, to make the total Army more lethal, capable, and efficient,” he said. “This means changing the organizations, policies, processes, and tasks that consume time, money, or manpower without delivering real value, and applying the savings to our top priorities.”

“The Army is on a great trend right now with regard to rebuilding readiness, and I think we’ll meet our goals here in the next couple of years and so I’m very excited about that,” Esper said.