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Fort Carson hosts town hall meeting
Posted: 04.16.2010 at 8:29 PM
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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Fort Carson leaders met with the communityon Friday to listen to concerns and unveil plans for the future.

There are 24,000 soldiers stationed at Fort Carson. Another 37,000 family members live here with their soldiers.

The Mountain Post is also the second largest employer in the state.

But some say the post is not a good neighbor. So Friday's public meeting was for both sides to get together and talk about their concerns.

Even though Colorado Springs and Fort Carson have long had a strong relationship, there are those who are worried about the base getting bigger.

The town hall meeting was designed to let Fort Carson leaders hear about the public's concerns.

“If there are particular communities that have a problem with how we are operating on Fort Carson we want to hear that," said Fort Carson Brig. Gen. Jim Pasquarette.

But Fort Carson officials also talked about plans for the future, like bringing an aviation brigade to Butts Army Air Field.

"It’d be roughly a couple of thousand soldiers and upwards of 80 to 100 helicopters," Pasquarette said.

And that would require more buildings for men and machines.

“We would have to do some construction and some changing with our airfield and other parts of the post in order to support the brigade," Pasquarette said.

The Army is still in the early stages of deciding if its want put a larger aviation unit at Fort Carson.

"We believe there is a requirement for one here. We are one of the few installations that don’t have an aviation brigade located with such a large populations of brigade combat teams," Pasquarette said.

The head of Fort Carson also took this opportunity to address ongoing concerns about future Pinon Canyon expansion.

"There are no plans to go and grab more land through eminent domain. That is not what the Army is going to do’" Pasquarette said.

But Fort Carson would consider buying land in the area if it became available.

"Even if someone would come forward willing to sell I am not sure the Army has the money to buy it at this point in time," Pasquarette said.

The general also talked about a plan to put post leaders at downtown bars on Friday and Saturday nights to encourage soldiers to make good decisions after a night of drinking.

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