PCMS was opened for training in the summer of 1985. Approximately one half of the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site was acquired through the legal process of condemnation. An additional $2 million was used for relocation of 11 landowners and for school bond relief. The land purchase was completed on September 17, 1983. Pinon Canyon, consisting of 245,000 acres and located some 100 air miles southeast of the fort, was selected. Additional offers were considered by the Army. The study determined that a 129,000 acre shortfall existed. Following public hearings, Colorado Governor Richard Lamm appointed a 12-member committee to submit a report in the spring of 1976.ĭue to additional Department of the Army requirements that all land expansion proposals be supported by analytical study, a comprehensive study to analyze the division's needs was completed in 1978. Carson's efforts to obtain more training land involved considerable interaction with the local civilian communities. The citizens of the Pueblo area voiced considerable opposition to the expansion, particularly the proposed use of the Pueblo Reservoir for amphibious training.
The total, approximately 74,000 acres, was located on the east and southwest border of Fort Carson. The plan was to acquire the needed land in yearly increments. It is bounded on the east by the dramatic topography of the Purgatoire River Canyon, a 100 meter (328 foot) deep scenic red canyon with flowing streams, sandstone formations, and exposed geologic processes.ĭuring 1974 the need for additional land for training began to receive considerable emphasis. The site supports a diverse ecosystem with large numbers of big and small game, fisheries, non-game wildlife, forest, rangeland and mineral resources. In each exercise, roughly 5,000 troops, 300 heavy tracked vehicles and 400 wheeled vehicles take to the expansive wilderness in month-long, intensive war maneuver exercises. As the second largest Department of Defense training site in the nation, PCMS hosts two major military exercises a year.
Pi¤on Canyon Maneuver Site is one of the Army's few, non-live- fire training areas allowing force-on-force, mechanized brigade training exercises.
It's 235,896 acres, combined with Fort Carson's training areas, comprise maneuver training lands second only to the National Training Center in size.įort Carson, with 97,201 acres of range land, supports limited battalion-size or smaller training exercises. It was opened in 1985 to provide critical maneuver lands for larger units on the Installation and from other installations in the area. The Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site (PCMS), located 150 miles southeast of Fort Carson, is a great training asset for Fort Carson, other installations, and National Guard and Reserve units from all branches of the service.
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