Clarksville, Tenn. – Major General Gary J. Volesky, Commanding General of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and Fort Campbell offered insight into the Screaming Eagles and Fort Campbell as the guest speaker at the Wednesday meeting of the Clarksville Rotary Club.
Sharing some numbers with those at the meeting, Volesky said there are about 21,000 soldiers in the division and if you count everyone I get to serve with it’s around 38,000. He compared it to being the town mayor of a small city.
Volesky spoke with pride about the 101st being the only Air Assault division in the world and the most deployed division in the Army. “I will tell you the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade is still deployed in Afghanistan today. They will return on 15 January with their last flight. When they step off the airplane, it will be the first time since 2007 the division has all been back at
Fort Campbell,” said Volesky.
He said the latest deployment for 101st Headquarters is scheduled to begin in February of 2016 as approximately 500 soldiers will deploy for nine-months to Iraq and Kuwait. Read more about the latest deployment of the 101st.
The General talked about the upcoming deployment saying this will be the fifth time he has served in Iraq. The Screaming Eagles will be stationed out of Baghdad and will take over from the 82nd Airborne Division.
Volesky described the latest mission for the 101st which will be to advise and assist the leadership of Iraq to get after ISIS. “My assessment is we’re going to stuff ISIS pretty quickly over there. They are already showing signs of weakening,” Volesky said.
General Volesky also discussed sequestration and how budget cuts are affecting the Army. The Army’s plan to lower its number from 490,000 to 450,000 troops by 2017 announced earlier this year, did not have that great of an impact on Fort Campbell with the loss of around 300 plus soldiers.
Another troop cut to 420,000 could affect Fort Campbell even more. “If they ever cut to 420 everybody’s losing more. I guarantee you if we have to go 30,000 less soldiers, Fort Campbell going to lose more soldiers, that’s just how it is, there’s just nowhere else to cut,” Volesky said.
General Volesky also praised the local communities surrounding Fort Campbell for their support of the soldiers and the families and encouraged community leaders to continue to show their support for Fort Campbell by working with civilian lawmakers to fix sequestration.