Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, TX –
Lt. Gen. Perry L. Wiggins, commander of United States Army
North (Fifth Army) and senior commander of Fort Sam Houston and Camp Bullis,
addressed the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce Feb. 24 at Sunset Station in
downtown San Antonio.
Wiggins spoke to an audience of approximately 100 people as
part of the chamber’s “Military City U.S.A.” speaker series. He talked about
the importance of the military retiree population in the city. San Antonio has
the second largest retired veteran population with 58,000 veterans, behind only
San Diego.
He added that San Antonio’s population is growing at a rate
of about 300 retired veterans each month, and said the city needs to be
vigilant to meet the growing needs in a growing urban infrastructure for its
military community.
“Those who are here in this station, we probably won’t see
the fruits of our labor, but as NFL Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi said,
it’s not important to score touchdowns. Get a first down, then we’ll think
about touchdowns. And that is true here.”
Afterward, the ARNORTH commander thanked the business
community for its continued support.
“Bottom line for me: Military City USA absolutely deserves
its moniker,” he said.