Fort Sill to deploy soldiers to Central Command area of responsibility

Fort Sill will be deploying soldiers to within the United States Central Command area of responsibility, the post’s garrison commander said Tuesday.

Col. James Peay IV said his comments, made during a meeting of the Lawton City Council, came in response to a question from a council member. Fort Sill’s garrison commander is an ex officio member of the council.

“Due to those operational securities, I’m not going to be able to provide any additional details,” Peay said, adding Fort Sill’s soldiers are trained and are ready to support U.S. forces “and our equities” in that theater. “More will becoming out in the next couple of days.”

The U.S. Central Command area of responsibility centers on 21 countries, including Israel and the Gaza Strip.

Fort Sill officials directed additional questions to the Office of the Secretary of Defense public affairs.

Earlier in the day, officials at Lawton-Fort Sill Regional Airport told members of the Lawton Metropolitan Area Airport Authority that military movements out of the airport will be ramping up dramatically, with the airport preparing to host 20 to 25 military and commercial charter flights in the next three weeks. Arrangements have been made to accommodate five aircraft on the ground at the same time, while Lawton Aviation Services has borrowed fuel trucks to supplement its fleet to ensure the airport has the capacity to fuel an increased number of aircraft.

Airport Director Barbara McNally said everything is set for the aircraft movements.

“We’ve done this before,” she said.