Army announces decision on aviation growth, realignment and stationing

By Army Environmental Command (USAEC)March 30, 2011

Cover of Record of Decision
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The Army released a record of decision, known as a ROD, today which identifies details of the stationing action that best supports the need for realignment and growth of aviation assets.

As part of the decision the Army will proceed with the activation and stationing of a new Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) at Fort Carson, Colorado. In addition, the decision will realign existing aviation units to Joint Base Lewis-McChord to complement the aviation units already stationed there. Details of the decision are contained in the ROD.

Maj. Gen. John O. Barclay, the Army's Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for operations G-3/5/7, made the decision to proceed with the implementation of Alternative 3, after reviewing the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (FPEIS) for Realignment, Growth, and Stationing of Army Aviation Assets.

The ROD and the FPEIS are available at http://aec.army.mil/usaec/nepa/topics00.html.

The decision contained in the Army's ROD will increase the availability of rotary wing units to meet current and future national security requirements and will better allow the Army to organize existing aviation units to promote more effective training and force management.

Environmental impacts associated with the implementation of the proposed action would include significant impacts to: transportation on the Interstate 5 corridor near JBLM, fish and water quality in Puget Sound, and noise impacts to sensitive receptors. There are potentially significant impacts to biological resources at YTC from potential increase in wildfire and habitat degradation associated with aviation training.

Impacts would also include significant but mitigable impacts to soils at Fort Carson, PCMS, and YTC, as well as significant but mitigable impacts to water resources at YTC. At PCMS, cumulative impacts to soils are predicted to be manageable with current dust control mitigation techniques. Impacts to cultural resources, air quality, noise impacts, public land use, and socio-economic impacts were all determined to be less than significant.

This decision provides the proper balance for addressing the shortfall in aviation force structure, optimizing training readiness, and enhancing quality of life for Soldiers and their Families by increasing timeframes between deployments for aviation Soldiers. The Army has taken all practical measures to protect the environment as part of this decision.

For further information, please call (210) 221-0882, write: NEPA PAO, U.S. Army Environmental Command, 1835 Army Blvd, Bldg 2000 (BSMT), Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234-2686 or email IMCOM-USAECPublicComments@conus.army.mil

Related Links:

Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for the Realignment, Growth, and Stationing of Army Aviation Assets (19.3 mb), (Please be patient while this file loads)

Record of Decision for the Realignment, Growth, and Stationing of Army Aviation Assets (March 2011) (352 kb)