Good News at Fort Wood
Those of us who live in south-central Missouri are well-familiar with Fort Leonard Wood. Even if we don’t have frequent occasion to visit the installation, we know the base as a valued neighbor and an essential part of our larger community. Once known primarily as a remote destination for Army recruits, during the past two decades Fort Leonard Wood has transformed to become one of the military’s premier training facilities.
Collectively known as the Maneuver Support Center for Excellence, the various units located at Fort Leonard Wood attract more than 80,000 service members, civilians and foreign personnel each year. Although it continues to welcome new recruits, the base is also home to the U.S. Army Engineer School, Military Police School and Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School, along with other advanced programs. Staffed by highly-educated professionals, these specialized institutions comprise a state-of-the-art facility that is as modern and high-tech as any corporate or university campus.
Recently, we learned Fort Leonard Wood is becoming even more up-to-date. On June 22, construction began on a new General Leonard Wood Army Hospital. The facility replaces the original hospital facility of the same name that was built in 1965, and is currently the oldest in the Army system. Spanning 52 acres, the hospital complex will include a 235,000-square-foot main building, a clinic facility nearly as large, ambulance bays and a heliport. Construction of the $295 million hospital is expected to take about four years, with completion anticipated in the fall of 2024. Kansas City-based J.E. Dunn Construction, which is spearheading the project, plans to employ as many as 4,000 workers before the work is completed. Many of those will be local jobs, filled by local people.
The hospital itself provides medical services exclusively to military personnel, including retirees and their dependents. The whole region benefits from the hospital, however. A four-year-long construction project will be an economic boon to Waynesville, St. Robert and many other towns nearby. With nearly 900 medical, dental, nursing and administrative employees, the hospital is also a major employer for our region. As is the case with all of the highly skilled personnel who work on the base, the employees of General Leonard Wood Hospital and their families are members of our community and will bring diversity and commerce to the area for years to come.
The construction of this new facility is great news for our region. The Army is making a sizeable investment in the area and I look forward to continuing a great relationship between the military and our civilian communities in the future.
On a related note, I would be amiss if I didn’t mention the recent changing of the guard at Fort Leonard Wood. The U.S. Army Maneuver Support Center of Excellence has a new commander, Brig. Gen. James Bonner. The general is no stranger to Fort Wood, having served three prior assignments at the facility. Before assuming his new position, Gen. Bonner previously led the 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive Command at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. It’s my pleasure to welcome Gen. Bonner back.
Bonner replaces Maj. Gen. Donna Martin, who served as Fort Wood’s commander since August 2018. Gen. Martin, the first female (and third African-American) to lead the base, originally came to Fort Leonard Wood in 2017 to head the Military Police School. The two-star general has been named Provost Marshall General of the Army and will take charge of the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command. I congratulate Gen. Martin for her past leadership at Fort Wood and wish her great success in her new command.
It’s my honor to serve as your senator for the 16th District. If you have questions or need any assistance, please call my office at 573-751-5713 or log onto my webpage at https://www.senate.mo.gov/brown for more information.