SAN ANTONIO — In accordance with an April 30 memo from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, two San Antonio Army commands will relocate to North Carolina within the next six to eight weeks.
The two commands, Army North (formerly the 5th Army) and Army South (formerly the 6th Army), will move to Fort Bragg to become part of a new Western Hemisphere Command. According to the San Antonio Express-News, some elements of the commands will remain at Fort Sam Houston, though it is unclear which elements and how many people will remain.
In the original memo, Hegseth said, “To build a leaner, more lethal force, the Army must transform at an accelerated pace by divesting outdated, redundant, and inefficient programs, as well as restructuring headquarters and acquisition systems.”
In July, San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz-Jones traveled to Washington, D.C. with the purpose of advocating to not only keep but grow the command centers in San Antonio. Jones, who was the former under secretary of the Air Force, said at the time, “We need to speak with one voice, and we will continue to position San Antonio and our unique civil-defense ecosystem to attract additional missions and contribute to the defense industrial base.”
In a statement published by the Express-News, Jones responded Wednesday to the decision to move the commands by saying, “We await additional details on the actual number of personnel that may be reassigned because of this change. San Antonio is unmatched in our ability to host military missions and families, and we look forward to working with the Department of War and Department of Army to identify additional missions San Antonio may be able to host.”
It is unclear at this time how many jobs will be lost because of the move, but there is expected to be a considerable economic impact on the city.