FORT HOOD, Texas — Paul E. Funk is the 60th Commanding General of III Armored Corp at Fort Hood.
Funk took some time to sit down with KCEN Channel 6 to discuss some of the biggest topics at Fort Hood and nationally as the country begins to draw down troops in Syria and Afghanistan.
On barracks funding:
In April 2018, Fort Hood was granted $117 million in barracks funding. Funk said that money has gone mostly to upgrading.
“As we work through these, there’s about 100 sets of barracks at Fort Hood,” Funk said. “We have to continually upgrade them and, for example, if you can only do five upgrades a year, it’s going to take 20 years to get through them all.”
On withdrawing troops from Syria:
President Donald Trump announced ISIS was defeated in December and said it was time to withdraw troops from Syria and Afghanistan. General Funk returned from those war-torn countries and said progress is being made.
“Well, you’ve heard the announcements and things, but what I saw is the Iraqi military taking the fight to ISIS,” Funk said. “The Syrian democratic forces taking the fight to ISIS and in the indigenous people fighting and us doing the advice and assist piece-- which is what we ought to be in the fight.”
On being America's eyes on the ground in war-torn countries:
When Funk, a man who seems to wear a smile on his face most of the time, was asked what it's like to be our eyes on the ground, he paused.
“You know, it’s really hard to describe,” Funk said. “One [word I would use is] honor-- to see the return of honor to the Iraqi people through their military because they’ve defeated this enemy. They are starting to now consolidate their gains and starting to rebuild their country.”
Funk admitted he is dated when it comes to troop withdrawal from Syria and Afghanistan.
He said the situation overseas changes every day. He said he could only offer speculation on whether or not the withdrawal was the right move.
He did, however, offer the perspective he had while walking on Syrian soil.
“What I saw was we were on the right track," Funk said. "We were taking the fight to the enemy every day and definitely driving that enemy out of existence.”
On soldier mental health care:
There were 10 confirmed suicides on Fort Hood in 2018. That's a number Funk said he wants to see lowered.
Funk said he is going to focus on promoting resiliency among soldiers.
“We’re in the midst of a consolidation of our resiliency programs into one building which will be the Shoemaker Center,” Funk said. “That will get all those groups and all of those programs in one place where we can really service the needs of our units, families and soldiers.”
On preparedness:
When asked what the greatest threat to the United States is in 2019, Funk said it was a lack of preparation.
“We have got to recruit the next generation and we (need) to build competency in our units for the long term," Funk said. "We’ve got to adjust our force, and we’ve got to be ready for whatever comes up. Be it a near-peer threat or a terrorist organization, what we have to do is be ready. So, our biggest threat is not being ready.”
Funk said Fort Hood is preparing the troops to be ready as the country needs them to be.
“We are constantly using every dollar, every dime we can get our hands on to get our forces ready to train for whatever’s next," Funk said.