New Fort Bliss Commanding General gives annual State of the Military Address

Fort Bliss is doing well. That was the message conveyed at the State of the Military Address.

The new commanding General gave the annual address Tuesday.

Maj. Gen. Patrick Matlock took command of the installation earlier this summer.

He is back in the borderland after spending a previous tour at Fort Bliss ending in 2014.

Matlock said Fort Bliss and its soldiers pump $6 billion into the local economy.

Maj. Gen. Matlock said it’s a time of transition for the country’s defense.

“The army’s modernization strategy has one focus: make soldiers and units more lethal to win out wars and come home safely,” he said.

The military installation offers a huge advantage compared to others around the army.

It has more than 1.2 million acres and the worlds’ largest controlled air space.

Recently, 8,000 service members conducted high-level training at fort Bliss.

Maj. Gen. Matlock said out-of-state training will continue at Fort Bliss in the coming years and we can expect to hear about more deployments from the base come the new year.