One of her first major challenges as mayor sent Gina Ortiz Jones back to the Pentagon this week, huddling with senior military officials about the future of the U.S. Army’s presence in San Antonio.
In April the Trump Administration called for a restructure of the service branch involving merging two San Antonio-based commands, both located at Ft. Sam Houston, with a North Carolina-based Forces Command, at a single headquarters with a location yet to be determined.
Combined, the two San Antonio commands, U.S. Army North and U.S. Army South, have roughly 1,000 personnel including civilian staff in San Antonio, according to a press release from the city.
Jones, who served as Air Force Under Secretary under the Biden Administration, said Thursday that her trip to Washington D.C. brought some clarity about the administration’s plans for San Antonio-based soldiers.
Army leadership’s preliminary recommendations are to move about 200 San Antonio-based soldiers to Ft. Bragg in North Carolina — while roughly 750 positions would remain here, between U.S. Army North and U.S. Army South, according to Jones’ office.
The idea has alarmed Texas lawmakers, who don’t want to see service members moved out of state but have little leverage to stop it as they await a formal announcement in the coming weeks.
Five lawmakers who represent San Antonio in Congress, led by U.S. Rep. Tony Gonazles (R-San Antonio), announced Thursday that they’re pushing for the new headquarters to be located in San Antonio, through a proposed amendment to the 2026 Defense Appropriations Act.
The city expects an executive order detailing the realignment plans to be issued in the coming weeks.
Based on this week’s conversations, however, Jones’ office said the impact on San Antonio jobs could be almost “negligible” — if a number of currently vacant positions at U.S. Army North and U.S. Army South are filled in the reorganization.
The new single headquarters, called the Western Hemisphere Command, is expected to be operational by October 2026.
U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales attends a groundbreaking ceremony in San Antonio in June 2024. Credit: Scott Ball / San Antonio Report
On the visit, Jones said she also discussed bringing other Army missions to San Antonio as part of the broader realignment of the service branch.
“We need to be proactive,” Jones said. “Which is why I shared a short list of Army missions currently performed elsewhere that if realigned to San Antonio would further help them achieve their goals around cost-savings and operational efficiencies.”
City and county leaders have been working to establish dominance in area of military medicine, including courting the Virginia-based the Defense Health Agency to base more workers here, as well as growing the city’s cybersecurity footprint.
“We will continue to position San Antonio and our unique civil-defense ecosystem to attract additional missions and contribute to the defense industrial base,” Jones said.
Jones traveled with just a handful of local officials: Assistant City Manager Jeff Coyle and Government Affairs Director Sally Basurto went with her to D.C., as well as (Ret.) Maj. Gen. Juan Ayala, who serves as the city’s director of Military and Veterans Affairs.
They met with Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll and Air Force Under Secretary Edwin Oshiba, as well as leaders of an operational planning team tasked with implementing the Trump administration’s consolidation.
The group also visited Capitol Hill to confer with U.S. Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo).
As part of the trip to Washington, D.C., Jones made a stop at the Democratic National Committee headquarters and met with DNC Chair Ken Martin.
Earlier this month Jones submitted an application for San Antonio to host the party’s 2028 national convention.