War & Peace Quote by Jim Ryun

Calling Fort Riley the "crown jewel" isn’t just hometown boosterism; it’s a deliberate elevation of a military installation into a symbol people can rally around. Ryun, an athlete-turned-public figure, leans on the language of winners and championships: there’s a best, and this is it. That framing matters because it converts what might be a bureaucratic Army decision (a restructuring, a new mission, a funding bump) into an emotional verdict. The announcement becomes less about spreadsheets and more about prestige.

The phrase "has made it clear what we have known all along" is the real political engine. It plants the conclusion before the evidence, treating the community’s belief as settled fact and casting the Army as merely catching up to local truth. Subtext: Fort Riley has been competing for attention, dollars, and relevance, and today’s news is proof it’s not on the chopping block. It’s also an implicit message to skeptics: if you doubted Fort Riley’s value, you were out of step with reality.

In context, this kind of praise functions as civic reassurance and strategic flattery at once. For soldiers and families, it signals stability and recognition. For Kansans, it folds the base into regional identity, as if Fort Riley’s success is the community’s success. Ryun’s athletic credibility helps: he speaks in the idiom of earned status, implying Fort Riley didn’t get lucky - it performed its way to the top.