Camp Ripley provides aid through challenges of 2020

It was a busy year at Camp Ripley, and it doesn’t show signs of slowing down any time soon.

Brigadier General Lowell Kruse, the senior commander at Camp Ripley, gave his annual report to the Little Falls City Council, Monday.

“I would tell you our installation is thriving and doing a lot of good work for the nation, the state and — hopefully you agree with me — in the community,” Kruse said.

He said it would be understandable to think 2020 might have been a down year due to fewer training opportunities. Though COVID-19 did have some impact on Camp Ripley, that was more than offset by the amount of state active duty status it experienced.

In an average year, Camp Ripley averages 325,000 - 350,000 man-days — the amount of work that can be done by one person within one day — for the Department of Defense. In 2020, that number climbed to 425,000, with many of those being spent in state active duty status in support of the governor.

The installation sent about 1,800 soldiers to Minneapolis and St. Paul in June 2020 to help law enforcement with its response to civil unrest in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Camp Ripley was also the logistical hub for that response, sending 4,100 cots, 4,800 Meals Ready-to-Eat (MRE), 18,000 locally catered meals and repair parts, protective equipment, and personal items.

Read the full article here.