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Fort Carson is a
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...
post located directly south of Colorado Springs in El Paso,
Pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...
, Fremont, and Huerfano counties,
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. The developed portion of Fort Carson is located near the City of Colorado Springs in El Paso County. Fort Carson is the home of the 4th Infantry Division, the
10th Special Forces Group The 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) (10th SFG (A), or 10th Group) is an active duty United States Army Special Forces (SF) Group. 10th Group is designed to deploy and execute nine doctrinal missions: unconventional warfare (UW), foreign in ...
, the
4th Security Force Assistance Brigade The 4th Security Force Assistance Brigade (4th SFAB) is a Security Force Assistance Brigade of the United States Army. It is based in Fort Carson, Colorado, under the Security Force Assistance Command. 4th SFAB is aligned with EUCOM. Formation ...
(SFAB), the 440th Civil Affairs Battalion (USAR), the
71st Ordnance Group (EOD) The 71st Ordnance Group (EOD) ("Raptors") is one of two explosive ordnance disposal groups of the United States Army. On order, the group deploys and conducts operations in support of the Combative Commanders or other government agencies to counte ...
, the 4th Engineer Battalion, the
759th Military Police Battalion The 759th Military Police Battalion is a military police battalion in the United States Army. It is currently stationed at Fort Carson, CO – "The Mountain Post". It is administratively controlled by the 43rd Sustainment Brigade at Fort Carson ...
, the
10th Combat Support Hospital The 10th Field Hospital ("Mountain Medics") is a Field Hospital of the United States Army first constituted on 23 June 1942 in the Army of the United States as the 10th Field Hospital. Lineage * Constituted 23 June 1942 in the Regular Army as ...
, the 43rd Sustainment Brigade, the Army Field Support Battalion-Fort Carson, the 423rd Transportation Company (USAR) and the
13th Air Support Operations Squadron The United States Air Force's 13th Air Support Operations Squadron is a combat support unit located at Fort Carson, Colorado. The squadron provides tactical command and control of close air support assets to US Army ground commanders of the 4th ...
of the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...
. The post also hosts units of the Army Reserve, Navy Reserve and the Colorado Army National Guard. Fort Carson was also home to the 5th Infantry Division, known as the Red Devils.


History


Camp Carson

Camp Carson was established in 1942, following Japan's attack on
Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the ...
. The city of Colorado Springs, Colorado purchased land south of the city and donated it to the War Department. Construction began immediately and the first building, the camp headquarters, was completed January 31, 1942. Camp Carson was named in honor of the legendary Army scout, General
Christopher "Kit" Carson Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and n ...
, who explored much of the West in the 1800s. At the construction's peak, nearly 11,500 workers were employed on various construction projects at the new camp. Facilities were provided for 35,173 enlisted men, 1,818 officers and 592 nurses. Nearly all of the buildings were of mobilization type construction, with wood sided exteriors. The hospital complex was constructed of concrete block, and considered to be semi-permanent, and had space for 1,726 beds, expandable to 2,000 beds. The 89th Infantry Division was the first major unit to be activated at Camp Carson. During World War II, over 100,000 soldiers trained at Camp Carson. Along with three other infantry divisions – the 71st Infantry Division, 104th Infantry Division and
10th Mountain Division The 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) is a light infantry division in the United States Army based at Fort Drum, New York. Formerly designated as a mountain warfare unit, the division was the only one of its size in the US military to rec ...
– more than 125 units were activated at Camp Carson and more than 100 others were transferred to the mountain post from other installations. Nurses, cooks, mule packers, tank battalions, a Greek infantry battalion, and an Italian ordnance company trained at Camp Carson during the war years. Camp Carson was also home to nearly 9,000 Axis prisoners of war – mostly Italians and Germans. The internment camp at Camp Carson opened on the first day of 1943. These POWs alleviated the manpower shortage in Colorado by doing general farm work, canning tomatoes, cutting corn, and aiding in logging operations on Colorado's Western Slope. Between 1942 and 1956, pack mules were a common sight at Camp Carson. The first shipment arrived by train from Nebraska in July 1942. The mules were used by Field Artillery (Pack) battalions to carry equipment, weapons and supplies over mountainous terrain. The most famous of these animals was Hambone, the pride of the 4th Field Artillery Battalion

For 13 years, he carried first sergeants up Ute Pass to
Camp Hale Camp Hale was a U.S. Army training facility in the western United States, constructed in 1942 for what became the 10th Mountain Division. Located in central Colorado between Red Cliff and Leadville in the Eagle River valley, it was named fo ...
. Camp Hale, located near
Leadville, Colorado The City of Leadville is a statutory city that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the only incorporated municipality in Lake County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 2,602 at the 2010 census and an estimated ...
, was where the Army conducted cold weather and mountain warfare training. Hambone died in March 1971 and was buried with full military honors. By April 1946, the post-war military strength at the camp was around 600 and on 16 December 1949,
Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile ...
opened a survival school at Camp Carson for training in mountainous terrain (moved to Stead Air Force Base, Nevada, in 1952.)


Designated Fort Carson

Camp Carson was designated Fort Carson in 1954. In the 1960s, mechanized units were assigned to the fort and it was expanded to the present . Butts Army Air Field at the fort was constructed between 1963 and 1966 with a runway for light fixed-wing aircraft (
cf. The abbreviation ''cf.'' (short for the la, confer/conferatur, both meaning "compare") is used in writing to refer the reader to other material to make a comparison with the topic being discussed. Style guides recommend that ''cf.'' be used onl ...
USAF C-130s at the nearby Peterson Air Force Base.) Throughout its history Fort Carson has been home to nine divisions. An additional training area, comprising 235,000 acres (95,000 ha), was purchased in September 1983. Named the
Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site The Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site (also Pinon and Pinyon) is a 235,896 acre (955 km2) U.S. Army base in southeastern Colorado. The Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site (PCMS) is a training site for Fort Carson. In 2003, the U.S. Army announced a plan t ...
, this training area is located approximately road miles to the southeast, and is used for large force-on-force maneuver training. Comprehensive maneuver and live fire training also occurs downrange at Fort Carson. Exercises and deployments continually hone the skills of Fort Carson soldiers. When not deployed, soldiers train annually at Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site and the National Training Center near Barstow, California. Additionally, units participate in joint exercises around the world, including Central and South Africa, Europe, and Southwest Asia. In 2003, most Fort Carson units were deployed in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Troops from the 984th Military Police CO, 759th Military Police BN were also sent in support of the guard mission at
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base Guantanamo Bay Naval Base ( es, Base Naval de la Bahía de Guantánamo), officially known as Naval Station Guantanamo Bay or NSGB, (also called GTMO, pronounced Gitmo as jargon by members of the U.S. military) is a United States military bas ...
, Cuba. President George W. Bush addressed soldiers and family members at the post on November 24, 2003, in praise of the soldiers' determination and the sacrifices their families have made. Construction in 2007 and 2008 preceded the return of the 4th Infantry Division (4ID) from Fort Hood after their 2008
Operation Iraqi Freedom {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
deployment (~5,000 additional soldiers).


Controversy

On February 14, 2007, the U.S. Army announced it was moving forward with a plan to expand the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site in southeastern Colorado. If expanded, Piñon Canyon would be the Army's largest single training area in the nation, tripling the size of the current site by adding of private ranch land. At 650,000 acres (2630 km), it would be nearly the size of the state of
Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...
. Many in the local civilian population are opposed to this plan, because much of the land in rural areas that would be added to the training site is civilian-owned ranch land, and many current landowners are unwilling to be supplanted, regardless of the compensation that may be offered. The Pinon Canyon Expansion Opposition Coalition, an activist group opposing the plans, says that former maps it obtained from the Army showed a "future expansion area" significantly greater than is now being contemplated. The Army's position is that expansion is essential for preparing soldiers for battle in evergrowing theaters such as Afghanistan and the Middle East. On November 25, 2013, the U.S. Army announced that its plan to expand the Piñon Canyon Maneuver site had been cancelled. In response to a Congressional ban on Army funding for an expansion plan, the United States Air Force moved in with a plan to use the area for
V-22 Osprey The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, tiltrotor military aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionality of a conventio ...
flights.


Notable former Fort Carson soldiers

*
John E. Butts John Edward Butts (August 4, 1922 – June 23, 1944) was a United States Army second lieutenant and rifle platoon leader who received the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions above and beyond the call of duty during the Invasion of Normandy ...
(1922-1944),
Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of val ...
recipient for whom the Fort Carson airfield is named * Wesley Clark (1944- ), Supreme Allied Commander Europe *
Martin Dempsey Martin “Marty” Edward Dempsey (born March 14, 1952), is a retired United States Army general who served as the 18th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 1, 2011 until September 25, 2015. He previously served as the 37th chief o ...
(1952- ), Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff * Andrew Maynard (1964- ), gold medalist boxer (
1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...
) * Boyd Melson (1981- ), boxer *
Colin Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; April 5, 1937 – October 18, 2021) was an American politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer who served as the 65th United States Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. He was the first Africa ...
(1937-2021), Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and U.S. Secretary of State *
Dennis Reimer Dennis Joe Reimer (born July 12, 1939) is a retired general of the United States Army, who served as the 33rd Chief of Staff of the Army from June 20, 1995 to June 21, 1999. He is also a graduate of Ranger and Airborne school. Early life and e ...
(1939- ), US Army Chief of Staff * Lionel Rivera (1956- ), mayor of Colorado Springs *
Bernard W. Rogers Bernard William Rogers (July 16, 1921 – October 27, 2008) was a United States Army general who served as the 28th Chief of Staff of the United States Army, and later as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, Europe and Commander in Chief, United Sta ...
(1921-2008), US Army Chief of Staff, and NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe, and Commander in Chief, US European Command * John William Vessey, Jr. (1922-2016), US Army general and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1982–1985


Census Designated Place

The Fort Carson census-designated place (CDP) includes the developed portion of Fort Carson located in El Paso County,
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. The CDP is a part of the Colorado Springs, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The
Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...
post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional se ...
( Zip Codes 80902 and 80913) serves Fort Carson postal addresses. At the
United States Census 2010 The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servi ...
, the population of the Fort Carson CDP was 13,813, while the population of the 80902 ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) was 12,289 and the 80913 ZCAT was 2,988.


Geography

The Fort Carson CDP has an area of , including of water.


Demographics

The
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...
initially defined the for the


Notable people

* Michael T. Voorhees, entrepreneur, engineer, designer, geographer, and aeronaut


See also

*
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...
*
Outline of Colorado The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the U.S. state of Colorado: Colorado – 22nd most populous, the eighth most extensive, and the highest in average elevation of the 50 United States. Colorado ...
**
Index of Colorado-related articles This is an alphabetical list of articles related to the U.S. State of Colorado. 0–9 * .co.us – Internet second-level domain for the State of Colorado * 4 Corners ** 4 Corners Monument * 6th Principal Meridian * 10-mile Range * 10th ...
*
State of Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...
**
Colorado cities and towns The U.S. State of Colorado has 272 active incorporated municipalities, comprising 197 towns, 73 cities, and two consolidated city and county governments. At the 2020 United States Census, 4,299,942 of the 5,773,714 Colorado residents (74.47% ...
***
Colorado census designated places The U.S. has 210 census-designated places. The United States Census Bureau defines certain unincorporated communities as census-designated places (CDPs) for enumeration in each decennial census. The Census Bureau defined 187 CDPs in Colorado f ...
**
Colorado counties The U.S. State of Colorado is divided into 64 counties. Two of these counties, the City and County of Broomfield and the City and County of Denver, have consolidated city and county governments. Denver serves as the state capital. Counties a ...
***
El Paso County, Colorado El Paso County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. The 2020 Census recorded its population as 730,395. The Census Bureau's 2020 result indicates it is the most populous county in Colorado, surpassing the City and County of D ...
**
List of statistical areas in Colorado The U.S. state of Colorado has twenty-one statistical areas that have been delineated by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Statistical areas are important geographic delineations of population clusters used by the OMB, the United States ...
*** Front Range Urban Corridor ***
South Central Colorado Urban Area 240px, An enlargeable map of the four-county South Central Colorado Urban Area The South Central Colorado Urban Area comprises the Colorado Springs Metropolitan Statistical Area, the Pueblo Metropolitan Statistical Area, and the Cañon City Micr ...
*** Colorado Springs, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area


References


External links


Fort Carson websiteFort Carson "Mountaineer"Fort Carson post history

Fountain-Fort Carson High School
{{authority control Carson Census-designated places in El Paso County, Colorado Census-designated places in Colorado Carson Economy of Colorado Springs, Colorado Military installations in Colorado Military history of El Paso County, Colorado Military installations established in 1942 1942 establishments in Colorado