FORT CARSON, Colo.-More than 250 community members gathered at the Antler's Hilton Colorado Springs Aug. 26 to receive an update on Fort Carson's continued growth and deployment activity and how they affect the local area.
The Fort Carson Community Partnership Forum featured Maj. Gen. David G. Perkins, commanding general, 4th Infantry Division and Fort Carson, providing a "Fort Carson 101" update to include population growth, construction projects and deployment activity while Kate Hatten, Military Impact Planning program manager, Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments, spoke on the progress of the Fort Carson Regional Growth Plan. A one-hour question-and-answer session and open house social hour concluded the event sponsored by PPACG.
Perkins emphasized the need for post leadership to partner with the surrounding communities.
"Our goal is to be great neighbors, he said. "We want to be wanted in this community and we want to serve in the community."
He said the post population has grown by almost 30,000 in the past two years, mostly due to the return of the 4th Infantry Division to the Mountain Post. Perkins shared how Fort Carson would continue to see an increase in troop deployments.
"My number one mission is to train warriors for combat ... to fight and win our nation's wars," he said. "Our nation has leaned on Fort Carson and 4th Infantry Division we feel proud of our abilities to train Soldiers as well as any Soldier in the world is trained."
Perkins said Fort Carson will most likely see record numbers of forces deploying to combat, noting about 15,000 Mountain Post Soldiers will be serving in Iraq and Afghanistan this time next year.
Perkins said another paradigm shift the community will see is the post's two-star general and his staff deploy to combat. Perkins will command U.S. Division North in Iraq which is responsible for the part of the country bordering Syria, Turkey and Iran. He said the previous couple of headquarters were not tactical, deployable headquarters and when the 4th Inf. Div. was here before the nation was not at war.
PPACG's goal is to ensure that the open dialogue between the community and Fort Carson continues, Robert MacDonald, executive director, said in an interview during the event.
"We have all the information; we have a lot of understanding," he said. "What we really want to do now is get to implementation - how we can best get the services in the community to match up with all the services that Fort Carson is providing for the Soldiers and their Families."
MacDonald said he hopes the "hand-and-glove routine" works so Soldiers and their Families receive all the services they need across the spectrum.
"Fort Carson can only do so much, the community can only do so much," he said. "We just have to find out that sharing line. Is it 50-50, 30-70' Whatever that is, we want to make sure the community understands that we have all the information ... so we can then start delivering services."
Col. Robert F. McLaughlin, garrison commander, said the community forum provides vital communication between Fort Carson leadership and the community.
"It gives us an opportunity to talk to people in and around Fort Carson about what we are doing," he said during an interview. "Our number one mission is to train America's sons and daughters for combat. We know that we cannot do this alone ... (and) what we do on post to train our Soldiers also affects those in the community."
He said only 30 percent of the Soldiers and Families live on the installation.
"The things that happen as we deploy our troops to combat affect those that live off the installation, that 70 percent (of our population) and the community," McLaughlin said. "As we partner with PPACG, they're looking at studies of how we can do better together, how we can provide services off the installation - homes for Soldiers, education for children, behavioral health facilities - the things that we need to sustain our Families that give so much and a community that cares so much about those who serve."
Economically, Fort Carson pours about $2.1 billion into the area, but McLaughlin said more importantly it's about the partnership and support the post shares with the community.
"We have to be good neighbors; we have to talk about issues. In some cases, we just have to communicate what it is that we do to serve ... and how we can potentially mitigate issues. It's all about community partnership ... this is part of that, communicating and allowing those who want to be heard, to be heard."
An hour question-and-answer panel session afforded community members an opportunity to voice their concerns to a panel consisting of Perkins, McLaughlin, MacDonald, Hatten and Dave Csintyan, president and chief executive officer, Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce.
The Fort Carson Growth Plan is available at http://www.ppacg.org.
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