Colorado Springs – Fort Carson will gain about 8,000 troops under a plan approved Wednesday by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission to relocate the Army’s 4th Infantry Division from Fort Hood, Texas.
The move, anticipated for months, became official in one of the first decisions made by the commission. Commissioners are expected to decide today whether to close the 1,250-employee Defense Finance and Accounting Service at the old Lowry Air Force Base.
Bucking the Pentagon, the panel known as the BRAC preserved a major military presence in New England by keeping open two historic Navy facilities that provide 12,000 jobs for a defense-dependent economy.
Some analysts have said closing both the Portsmouth shipyard in Kittery, Maine, and the New London submarine base in Groton, Conn., would have devastated the economy along the coast from Maine to Rhode Island.
In Colorado Springs, word that the 4th Infantry Division would be returning was met with excitement. The division was at Fort Carson from 1970 to 1996.
“It’s the culmination of decades’ worth of work that have gone into ensuring that the post is healthy and strong,” said Jeff Crank, vice president of the Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce.
The division is expected by the summer of 2007, expanding Fort Carson from about 14,000 soldiers to roughly 22,000 soldiers, Crank said.
The 5,200-troop 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment will move to Fort Hood, and the flag for the 3,700-troop 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division – a group that recently returned to Fort Carson after a year in Iraq – will go to Fort Lewis, Wash.
Officials at Fort Carson are unsure exactly how many soldiers currently in Colorado Springs will move to new locations.
Economists expect that millions of dollars will be generated in new spending for homes and meals at restaurants in Colorado Springs, with millions more spent to upgrade and build new barracks and training facilities at Fort Carson.
“I am pleased the BRAC recognized the value of this facility and the potential it has for strengthening the Army’s training and mobilization capacity,” said Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo.
The panel’s final decision will be sent to President Bush, who can accept it or reject it in its entirety. Congress also will have a chance to veto the plan but has not taken that step in four previous rounds of closings.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Staff writer Erin Emery can be reached at 719-522-1360 or eemery@denverpost.com.
