Kansas Senator Jerry Moran is trying to convince the U.S. military to station more troops at Fort Riley, the historic and sprawling army base next to Junction City. Fort Riley is home to the "Fighting First" Infantry Division, also known as the Big Red One and has a long and storied history dating back to the 1800s.
At a recent public forum, Moran said that, unfortunately, many of his colleagues view the northeast Kansas army base as a lonely outpost in the middle of nowhere.
Senator Moran is a Republican member of an appropriations subcommittee for national defense.
This story is a contribution from Bryce Dolan, a reporting partner at KFRM and KCLY in Clay Center, Kansas.