[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 19846-19847]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    RECOGNIZING THE 4TH BRIGADE COMBAT TEAM, 25TH INFANTRY DIVISION

  Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, once a week when we are in session, I 
come to the floor to recognize a person or group of people in my great 
State of Alaska who make it very special. We call them our Alaskan of 
the Week.
  Alaska is beautiful, it is big, and it is special. Right now, much of 
the State is gearing up for the skiing season. Snow is out, and there 
is nothing more beautiful and invigorating than taking to the slopes of 
Alaska. It is also a great time to see the Northern Lights dancing in 
the sky. So I urge everybody to come out to Alaska. Winter or summer, 
it will be the trip of a lifetime.
  Of course, it is much more than snow and beautiful dancing lights; 
our people are what make us so special--rugged, independent, generous, 
and giving to their families, their communities, our State, and our 
country.
  Alaska is a patriotic State--I would argue, the most patriotic State 
in our great Nation. For one, we have the most veterans per capita of 
any State in America. We have the very best military forces, and we 
have a lot of them. Let me name just a few.
  We have the Army's 1st Stryker Brigade, based at Fort Wainwright. 
Chike Springer, one of my staffers helping me out here, served there in 
the 1st Stryker Brigade's Aviation Task Force. We have the Northern 
Warfare Training Center; the 59th Signal Battalion; the 17th Combat 
Sustainment Support Battalion; the Air Force's

[[Page 19847]]

Third Wing, 11th Air Force; the 176th Wing; the 673rd Air Base Wing; 
the Air Force reservists of the 477th Fighter Group; the 354th at 
Eielson; and the 213th Space Warning Squadron at Clear Air Force 
Station. You get the picture--some of the best military forces. The 
49th Missile Defense Battalion, the cornerstone of America's missile 
defense, protecting the entire Nation, is right there at Fort Greely. 
These are the thousands of men and women in the Reserves and on Active 
Duty who are stationed in our great State. We are proud of them, and we 
owe them and their families a huge debt of gratitude for their service, 
especially now that we are approaching the holiday season.
  Today, I want to particularly recognize the men and women who make up 
the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division--the only airborne 
brigade combat team in the Pacific theater and in the Arctic. As my 
colleagues on the Armed Services Committee know, they are referred to 
in Alaska and throughout the Army as the 4-25. This unit, over 3,000 
men and women strong, is our Alaskans of the Week.
  I want to talk a little bit about the 4-25. It has a very strong 
lineage and heritage. Although it was created relatively recently--in 
2004--and was the first new U.S. airborne unit created since the end of 
World War II, its heritage springs from the 25th Infantry Division, 
which was first activated in 1941 and played a seminal role in World 
War II and all of our country's conflicts since.
  Just like the 25th Infantry Division, the 4-25 has played a major 
role in our country's conflicts since its inception. Members of the 4-
25 have deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, to 
Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, and just last 
September, a couple months ago, they were again deployed to Afghanistan 
to train and advise Afghan security forces.
  As part of a larger drawdown of our military and the Army--a 
misguided drawdown by the previous administration, announced in 2015--
the 4-25 was part of 40,000 Active-Duty Army soldiers to be cut, just 
gotten rid of. This would have been an enormous strategic mistake for 
the Army and for America's national security, especially as it related 
to the 4-25, the only mountain, cold weather, airborne BCT in the 
entire Arctic and Asia Pacific. They are also a critical reserve force 
for any contingency on the Korean Peninsula given how close we in 
Alaska are to Korea.
  So what happened? Alaskans circled the wagons. Rallies with hundreds, 
if not thousands, of my fellow Alaskans came out in our great State, 
urging the Department of Defense and the U.S. Army: Don't make this 
mistake. Don't cut this unit. Keep it intact.
  Here in Washington, we did our work. I had a heart-to-heart with a 
number of senior Army and DOD officials with one simple goal in mind: 
to get them to personally visit this unit, to come see them train, to 
see how capable they were, and to understand their strategic value to 
America's national security. And that happened. Many senior Army 
officials--the Army Chief of Staff and the Secretary of the Army--went 
to Alaska, went to JRTC, and watched the 4-25 in action.
  I remember standing on the second floor of a building in a mock 
Middle Eastern town watching members of the 4-25 jump into an LZ at 
JRTC in the middle of the night for a nighttime airfield seizure 
operation. There is something awe-inspiring about watching 1,000 
airborne paratroopers silently fall out of the night sky to seize 
terrain--something that probably sends chills up the spine of our 
Nation's enemies.
  Fast-forward to today. Of the 40,000 soldiers slated to be cut from 
the U.S. Army, only one unit was spared--one--and it was the 4-25. Why 
did this happen? It happened because they made it happen. This great 
unit saved themselves. When the Army's top brass went to Alaska, went 
to Fort Polk and watched them train at JRTC, they saw what a great unit 
this was and realized they were making a big mistake. When General 
Milley, Chief of Staff of the Army, made the final decision to reverse 
the previous decision of the Army and retain the 4-25, he said it was 
``one of the most trained and ready units in the entire United States 
Army.'' That was the Chief of Staff of the Army.
  The 4-25 didn't rest. They are deployed, back in Afghanistan. 
Unfortunately, while deployed, just a few days ago, on December 11, 
Alaska lost a son and the 4-25 lost one of its own as part of this 
mission. It is heartbreaking for the families and for the unit. These 
brave young men and women are willing to sacrifice and have already 
sacrificed, and our prayers are with them during these holidays.
  They are our Alaskans of the Week.
  I plan on visiting them overseas during the holidays. My wife Julie 
will also be attending an event this weekend in Anchorage for the 
families of those who are deployed, showing our support and our respect 
for the men and women in this unit and their families, because, as many 
know, when a family is deployed, it is not just the young man and woman 
in the unit who sacrifice, it is the entire family.
  To the families, we say thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for 
your service and sacrifice. To the men and women who make up the 4-25, 
we also say thank you for all you are doing for us--for serving us, for 
keeping us safe, for protecting this country, when Americans are 
enjoying the holidays.
  I look forward to seeing you in theater. Please be assured that all 
Members of this body--Senators, Democrats, Republicans--know your 
record of service and wish all of you Godspeed this holiday season. 
Thank you for being our Alaskans of the Week.
  Army Strong. Arctic Tough. Sparta Lives.

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