Youngest man to serve as Army’s top enlisted soldier visits Fort Carson

Sgt. Maj. of the Army Daniel Dailey visited soldiers and cadets at Fort Carson and Peterson Air Force Base.

For 11 years Fort Carson was home for Dailey, who’s now the youngest man to ever serve as the Army’s top enlisted soldier

“This place has a true place in my heart; many people have heard me say it’s really a hometown. The amount of support I received from this community was literally unbelievable. At any given day there was always someone there from a welcome-home ceremony to the support for our soldiers. Never was the answer ‘no’ given to me as a senior leader here,” said Dailey.

Back at his home turf this week he met with soldiers one-on-one to gain an understanding of current morale and hear concerns.

“Our job is to be critical of ourselves and say, ‘What are the weaknesses?’ For me right now, I recognize that physical fitness is not where it needs to be in the army right now,” Dailey said.

But physical fitness wasn’t on the minds of Fort Carson soldiers.

Instead, they want answers about their future- the major cuts that could be coming, possibly reducing forces by nearly two-thirds.

“We are going to draw down, we know that, we’ve been clear about that. Those concerns are taken in very much consideration when we make fore structure changes. Really the American public needs to know, we need to balance structure for the sake of its mission. That’s what’s most important,” Dailey said.

Dailey is hopeful that most cuts will happen naturally.

“We won’t have to tell soldiers to go home. Our hope is naturally soldiers will leave because of attrition, what has always occurred throughout history. We have a great new program called Soldier for Life. It’s about letting every soldier know, regardless if you’ve served three years or 30, you’re a solider for life,” Dailey said.

In 72 hours Daily will give a written report of soldiers’ concerns to the Army’s chief of staff.