Fort Carson – The Pentagon announced today that two big combat units will move to Fort Carson, a shift that would add about 8,000 soldiers to the post outside Colorado Springs.
The Pentagon said Fort Carson would gain two brigades with about 3,500 soldiers each, plus the headquarters of the 4th Infantry Division, all currently based at Fort Hood, Texas.
The headquarters unit has about 1,200 soldiers, the military said.
The two new brigades will join two already at Fort Carson. One of the brigades already at the post had been based in South Korea before its current tour in Iraq, which is now winding down.
All four brigades will become part of the 4th Infantry, and the entire division will be based at Fort Carson when the move is complete, by about 2011, the military said.
The Pentagon said today’s moves were part of its plan to return up to 50,000 soldiers from overseas locations by the end of the decade. They are not part of the current round of base closings and do not have to be approved by the Base Closure and Realignment Commission, the military said.
Army Secretary Francis Harvey said last month that the 4th Infantry headquarters could move back to Fort Carson, where it had been until 1996.
Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., said the move means “more jobs for Colorado, it means our economy will continue to grow. It means with this becoming the headquarters, the mission becomes more permanent.” Coupled with other shifts, including the transfer of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment from Fort Carson to Fort Hood, Fort Carson is expected to have 8,200 more soldiers in 2011 than it had in 2003.
