Fort Polk is expected to the have the most responses to the prospect of Army-proposed troop cuts, said Cathy Kropp, a spokeswoman with Army Environmental Command.

The most recent numbers show Fort Polk with 26,807 comments, surpassing Fort Benning, Ga., which had the second most, by more than 7,000. About 5,000 comments have yet to be read, Kropp said.

“I don’t believe there’s enough left that would allow any of the other posts to exceed Fort Polk,” she said. “But it’s really not a numbers game from an Army standpoint. It’s really about what those comments say.”

The comment period, which ended Aug. 25, allowed people to respond to a study put out in July that named nearly 30 bases as potential areas for troop reductions. The study suggested cutting as many as 6,500 soldiers from Fort Polk.

The Army Environmental Command has received nearly 100,000 responses to the study. Comments are still being counted, but Kropp said the tally should be complete by the end of next week.

Fort Polk Progress held letter-signing events in the region throughout the comment period. Group Chairman Michael Reese said in August that the community’s support helped the Army choose to cut only 252 soldiers from the post last year, when it had proposed cutting as many as 5,300.

The Army is expected to make decisions on where to cut in late spring.(American Press Archives)