FORT CARSON, Colo. (July 27, 2015) – Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno met with leaders, officers and senior noncommissioned officers during a visit to the 4th Infantry Division and Fort Carson to address challenges Soldiers face daily, July 23.
“As I make visits to different installations I realize how busy our Army continues to be,” Odierno said. “As I stand here today, there are over 140,000 Soldiers deployed and forward stationed around the world doing a variety of missions.”
During the visit, the Army’s 38th chief of staff met with company commanders and first sergeants to discuss the importance of taking care of Soldiers and maintaining a high state of readiness.
“As the CSA [chief of staff], the biggest fear that I have is we ask one Soldier to deploy, who hasn’t been properly trained or is not ready to do their mission,” he said. “It is something that we should never tolerate.”
The Army continues to invest significantly in Family programs and will continue to do so, Odierno said, and it is vital to have the full support of Families as the Army faces changes to personnel and the challenge of trying to bring peace and security to the world in a time, where insecurity is growing rapidly.
1st Sgt. Michael Dills, Medical Company, Medical Department Activity, said he was humbled by the opportunity to engage the Army’s chief of staff.
“The CSA is trying to help us by reducing requirements in some areas to ensure we have time to focus on making sure all of our Soldiers are adequately trained and ready to deploy,” Dills said. “It is reassuring to hear how much he cares, and how he is trying to empower leaders as we face challenges heading into the future.”
As the former 53rd commander of the 4th Infantry Division, Odierno said he is proud of all the division is doing right now with a brigade deployed to Kuwait and Jordan, regionally-aligned forces in Europe, a brigade, which is preparing for Afghanistan and another getting ready to deploy to the National Training Center.
“There has never been a more important time in our Army for our Soldiers to continue to be focused, prepared and ready to do their mission,” he said. “We are trying to add as much predictability as possible for them so they have the ability to plan. For me, it is about us sustaining a high level readiness that enables us to respond to events.”
Odierno said the front range community will continue to play a critical part in the success of the Army’s future missions.
“I am incredibly proud of the support that the 4th Infantry Division gets from the surrounding community,” he said. “It is critical to our success, and it is critical to the future our units as we continue to conduct the many operations.”
Capt. Todd Rossbach, commander, 59th Military Police Company, 759th MP Battalion, said it was surreal to be able to discuss the challenges he faces as a company commander with the Army’s highest ranking officer.
“After speaking with Gen. Odierno, I am excited about the transition period we are going through,” Rossbach said. “I joined the Army because I wanted to make a positive impact in the world.”