Army to train for month at Pinon Canyon beginning May 1

Las Animas County residents near Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site should expect a month of military activity starting May 1, when the 4th Infantry Division begins Ivy Mass on Fort Carson land and at PCMS. Fort Carson says the exercise will intermittently generate noise and dust throughout the day and into the evening, which can affect ranch work, hunting plans, travel and any need to move quickly through the area.

The Army describes Ivy Mass as a one-time, brigade-level Combined Arms Live-Fire Exercise meant to certify a unit for future deployments and validate the Army’s next-generation digital command-and-control systems. Fort Carson says Ivy Mass follows five earlier Ivy Sting exercises on Fort Carson since September, but this training extends the footprint into Piñon Canyon, where the Army says it needs the wide-open terrain and austere conditions for the event.

That scale matters in southern Colorado because Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site is not a small training range. The site covers 235,896 acres and opened for training in the summer of 1985. GlobalSecurity.org describes it as one of the Army’s few non-live-fire training areas large enough for force-on-force mechanized brigade exercises, and says a major cycle there can involve about 5,000 troops, 300 heavy tracked vehicles and 400 wheeled vehicles. For communities around Trinidad and the Purgatoire River Canyon, that kind of movement can mean busier roads and more coordination around access.

The Army’s environmental assessment says PCMS is the only place that meets the training’s requirements because Fort Carson lacks the land area, austere conditions and data-rich environment needed for Ivy Mass. The review also makes clear that the May training is separate from a longer-term proposal to create a permanent impact area and associated ranges at PCMS, a distinction that will be closely watched by ranchers, local land users and anyone concerned about future military expansion in the county.

Fire danger is another part of the picture. Fort Carson officials expect soldiers to fire 155-millimeter training artillery shells at PCMS in May, and those shells contain about a half pound of TNT and could ignite a fire. Apache helicopter crews are also expected to fire 2.75-inch inert practice rockets on an ongoing basis. Residents were briefed in February, and the Army accepted comments on the environmental assessment and draft finding of no significant impact until March 28.

Fort Carson says noise complaints can be directed to its Public Affairs Office. For Las Animas County, the message is straightforward: PCMS will be active, louder and busier beginning May 1, and that will ripple through the surrounding area for most of the month.