Topeka ? Sen. Pat Roberts has been working for months to see that Fort Riley remains under consideration to land a U.S. Army division headquarters, and Sen. Sam Brownback says that division could be the famed Big Red One.

Roberts said Thursday that he had been talking to Army leaders and Pentagon officials since he learned last year that they were considering a plan to cut troop strength in Europe and possibly move two divisions back to the United States.

His comments came a day after Brownback told The Topeka Capital-Journal’s editorial board that he was optimistic about the 1st Infantry Division returning to Fort Riley. The division’s headquarters transferred from the northeast Kansas military post to Germany in 1996, leaving only a brigade and cutting the post’s strength by 40 percent.

“We’re continuing to push and we’ve got a decent — I think, really, quite a good — shot at getting the flag back here,” Brownback said. “We really want to try to get that back here to Fort Riley. Fort Riley is a great base. We’ve had large troop deployments, but we don’t have a flag headquarters there. This would really help enhance its stature.”

Roberts noted that any plan to move a division headquarters back to Fort Riley would require the approval of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, after the idea was considered by Army and Pentagon brass.

Since 1997, Congress has approved $405 million worth of construction projects for the post, and lawmakers are considering another $70 million for the federal government’s 2004 budget. The fort also gained a combined arms training center, which prepares troops for urban combat.

“Make no mistake, Fort Riley’s training lands and infrastructure can handle a division today,” Roberts said.

Fort Riley has about 10,000 soldiers.