By: Mireya Garcia

m.garcia@krdo.com

COLORADO SPRINGS-Secretary of the Army John McHugh had a full day of meetings at Fort Carson with Major General David Perkins and other Military officials to see what steps need to be taken to better the future of the Army.

Fort Carson was part of a three-stop tour meant to provide McHugh with the opportunity to familiarize himself with the Army’s deployment preparation process.

One of the issues at the top of the Secretary of the Army’s agenda is deployment cycles and giving soldiers the opportunity to reintegrate.

“Hopefully it will make soldiers’ time at home more manageable, more predictable and we can do a better job of providing ready trained and equip forces,” said McHugh.

Another issue discussed was the overuse of stop-loss. McHugh, once a supporter, said the Army’s intention is to no longer use it if at all possible.

“That (stop-loss) has really, in time evolved from being a management tool in unique circumstances to being an end-strength management tool,” said McHugh.

Soldiers whose deployments were over-extended because of stop-loss can expect retroactive pay.

The Secretary of the Army said that he plans to take what he learned at today’s meetings to the Pentagon to better serve military personnel.