By Marshall Griffin, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – A panel called the Missouri Military Preparedness and Enhancement Commission is still working to try to persuade the Army to not move its Human Resources Command away from St. Louis.
Recommendations a couple years ago from the federal Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) commission included moving the HRC's St. Louis operation to Ft. Knox, Kentucky.
But Republican State House member David Pearce of Warrensburg doesn't think that's a wise move. "What we're trying to do is say, these jobs need to stay in St. Louis," Pearce said Wednesday. "It's a secure building, it would cost about 200 million dollars to build a new facility in Ft. Knox.
"Plus, they don't have the capacity to hire 2000 people in the Ft. Knox area. They're already here, so why not keep it?"
Pearce says if their efforts fail, the state commission is prepared to help HRC's civilian workforce find other jobs.
The move is scheduled to take place in 2009.