Governor Steve Beshear says he will be working with Kentucky's Congressional delegation to hopefully soften the loss of a brigade at Fort Knox.
The cuts announced Tuesday will deactivate the Third Brigade Combat Team, which has about 3,500 soldiers. The number of active duty combat brigades is being slashed as the military returns to pre-9\11 troop levels.
Beshear says not much can be done about the federal decision, but the state can continue to position Fort Knox as a vital resource to the Defense Department. He suggests building on changes the post made under the military's base re-alignment some five years go.
"We ended up building the biggest office building in this state on Fort Knox to house the Human Resources Command that handles all human resources for the Army," Beshear remarks. "Why not move human resources for the Air Force, Marines, Navy to that location?"
Beshear claims having human resources for every military branch at one location could be an efficiency measure for the Department of Defense. In addition, he says officials will be looking at other ways to maximize the use of Fort Knox.
