Read more: Local, Military, Politics, Secretary of the Army, John Mchugh, Stop Loss, Afghanistan, Fort Hood, Suicide, Fort Carson
FORT CARSON, COLO. -- The Secretary of the Army was at Fort Carson Wednesday. He was there to get a feel for the Mountain Post's ability to train and prepare soldiers for war.
Former congressman John McHugh has been Secretary of the Army for less than two months. He served on the House Armed Services Committee while in Congress.
And despite serving a Democratic president, McHugh is a life-long Republican.
This was McHugh's first visit to Fort Carson -- a visit he says takes on added importance in light of the shootings at Fort Hood.
McHugh spent about 15 minutes talking with reporters at the end of a day-long visit to the Mountain Post.
"The original intent of this trip was to provide me with the opportunity to look at the Army's process of resetting training equipping and preparing for deployment," McHugh said.
But the Fort Hood shootings changed his agenda a little and McHugh says he spent part of his day talking to the men and women who help soldiers cope.
"There’s things I know this community is concerned about -- everything from suicides to acts of violence," said McHugh.
And McHugh spent time with post leaders learning what he can do in Washington to help them do their jobs here.
"I met with company commanders and got a pretty good feel for some other the things we need to do differently from the Pentagon level," the Secretary said.
McHugh also talked about the Pentagon's new approach to stop-loss. That’s the policy that can hold soldiers in active duty or in a deployment longer than they were scheduled.
McHugh says it will become more of a final option than first choice.
"We're going to make every effort not to use stop loss, but for those that get abused by it we are going to remunerate them, which is in the Army the way you show your appreciation," said McHugh.
The big question many Fort Carson families want an answer to is President Obama's decision whether to send more troops to Afghanistan.
McHugh says he's not sure which way the President is leaning.
But he says the Army is well positioned to respond whatever the decision is.
