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Heather Fox
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Washington, D.C. - After speaking with the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations and Environment, Keith Eastin, U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, a member of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), announced that the Army will add a new Brigade Combat Team (BCT) at Fort Carson. The additional BCT at Fort Carson is one of six new BCT’s to be added by the U.S. Army nationwide.
“Back-to-back deployments in Iraq, demoralizing stop-loss orders, and unpredictable but potentially necessary missions elsewhere around the globe threaten to break our all-volunteer Army, which is why two years ago I introduced legislation with Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) to rebuild the strength and increase the size of the U.S. Army,” said Rep. Udall. “Language from our legislation was incorporated into defense bills passed by Congress, and the Bush Administration has since embraced our recommendations through the Army’s ‘Grow the Force’ initiative.”
As part of that initiative, the Army must decide where to base six new brigades. In May 2007, DoD announced the preparation of a programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) for Army Growth and Force Structure Realignment. The PEIS evaluated 17 Army installations – Fort Carson among them – for their ability to support the Army’s growth and realignment, and today, the Army announced that Fort Carson has been selected to host an additional Brigade Combat Team.
Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations and Environment, Keith Eastin, told Udall today that the additional brigade will number 4,877 soldiers and will be added by 2011. Fort Carson currently hosts three heavy BCTs and one temporary light infantry BCT that will soon become permanent. The additional brigade will also be a light infantry brigade. Eastin also told Udall that the decision to place another BCT at Fort Carson was not predicated on an expansion of the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site.
“It comes as no surprise to me that Fort Carson was among those installations selected to host an additional Brigade Combat Team,” said Udall. “Fort Carson’s military value is tremendous, as ranked by the Department of Defense, and its existing capacity and facilities for training are similarly top-notch. Fort Carson’s soldiers are also strongly supported by the Colorado Springs and Pueblo County communities, which makes the Mountain Post particularly well-suited to provide the highest quality of life to military families. It makes sense to utilize Fort Carson to its fullest and to ensure that all the surrounding communities realize some of the economic gains.”
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