FORT CARSON—The thousands of soldiers who are expected to relocate to Fort Carson this summer could soften the blow of the recession in the Colorado Springs area, an economist said.
The number of troops at the Army post is expected to grow from about 18,100 last year to 24,600, and post officials plan about $580 million in construction this year to provide housing for them.
The Army estimates there will be 62,000 military family members in town this year, up from 45,600 in 2008.
“You will see one of the highest populations of soldiers at Fort Carson this summer that you have seen in four or five years,” said Brian Binn, president of military affairs for the Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce. “We will feel the impact of the arrival of the additional soldiers and their families, even with the reluctance of consumers to spend.”
By 2013, the post will be get 5,000 more soldiers from an additional brigade.
Deployments are expected to keep 10,000 soldiers overseas at any time, so the post’s economic impact will be at about the same level it was before the 2003 Iraq invasion.
Still, Southern Colorado Economic Forum senior economist Fred Crowley estimated the arrival of the troops will reduce local job losses by 2,500 to 5,000 in the economic downturn.
The Pentagon announced growth plans for Fort Carson in 2004, then pledged additional troops in 2005 and 2007, making the post one of the biggest in the nation, on paper.
But the Iraq war has kept thousands of soldiers overseas.
Most of the soldiers headed to Fort Carson are now serving in Iraq with the headquarters of the 4th Infantry Division and the division’s 1st Brigade Combat team. They’re scheduled to start returning to Fort Hood, Texas, this month before moving to Colorado.
Col. Gene Smith, Fort Carson’s garrison commander, said soldiers who are part of units moving to Colorado will be given the option of staying in Texas and go elsewhere within the Army.
Meanwhile deployments are continuing.
The 3,800-soldier 3rd Brigade Combat Team returns in February from 15 months of combat in Baghdad and Mosul. The 3,600-soldier 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division leaves in May for a year in Afghanistan. The 3,800-soldier 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division is not expected to return from Iraq until late this year.
Crowley estimated that deployments in the past five years have trimmed local vehicle sales by 10 percent and inflated the local apartment vacancy rate by 2 or 3 percentage points.
“Businesses expected to see greater increases than we’ve had, but we have to recognize that there is a war going on and troops have been deployed,” said Lisa Cochrun, economic development director for the city of Fountain, about 15 miles south of Colorado Springs.
Nevertheless, preparation for growth has buffered the region from a slump in construction.
The $500 million annual building budget to house soldiers has brought an average of 2,000 construction workers daily to the post. That is expected to last through 2010, said Maj. Mark Himes, who oversees building at the post.
Schools also are preparing for growth. Fountain-Fort Carson School District 8, which has 6,500 students, expects to have 3,000 more students in the next five years. A new school that would hold 750 students from kindergarten through fifth-grade is expected to open in August 2010.
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Information from: The Gazette,
