Morris County community leaders recently joined military representatives from Picatinny Arsenal and the New Jersey National Guard to pledge their support to uniformed personnel and their families by signing the Army Community Covenant.

The covenant recognizes the special bond that exists between area military, their families and the community surrounding Picatinny.

The signing preceded a performance of the U.S. Army Soldier Show before a nearly packed auditorium at Morris Knolls High School in Denville on Oct. 10.

Following brief remarks made by U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-Harding, Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army Robert J. Maguire and Picatinny Arsenal commanding general Brig. Gen. William N. Phillips, each of the participants walked to a podium and signed the covenant, which was affixed to poster board.

Maguire thanked community leaders for their support of service members and their families during military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We are an Army that is stretched too thin," he said, describing the strain that a two-front conflict has put on deployed military and their loved ones back home.

Maguire noted that the Army is engaged in the third-longest war in American history and the longest war ever fought with an all-volunteer force.

More than a million men and women have been deployed into combat, 4,700 have sacrificed their lives and 11,000 have been decorated for valor, including two Medals of Honor, 14 distinguished service crosses and more than 500 silver stars, he said.

"That our soldiers and families so willingly sacrifice to preserve our way of life and to secure a better future for others says much about Army strength. A strength that comes from our values, from our warrior ethos and from our people," Maguire said. "This strength is making a difference in the nation’s fight against global terror, and it is what gives me great confidence that we will prevail in the current fight."