SBCT Final EIS - Govsupport.us

Chapter 2 ⎯ Description of the Proposed Action and Alternativestional crowding as new facilities are constructed. Despite these limiting factors, Fort Carson possessesenough infrastructure to support the garrison operations and Soldier and Family quality of life of the2/25 th in the near term and would be able to plan additional projects in the long term.Training Range and Training Support Infrastructure Construction: Fort Carson currently possessesa majority of the training ranges and facilities required to support the live-fire training activitiesof the 2/25 th SBCT. Fort Carson training infrastructure includes the full suite of training rangesrequired to maintain the training readiness standards of the 2/25 th with the exception of the BAX, theMPMG, and the UAC. These ranges and their training function were described previously in the ProposedAction.Under Alternative C, the construction of a BAX would not be possible. The BAX, which is 2.4 km by4 km in dimension has a large surface danger zone, which when used in conjunction with the 105-mmmain gun of the MGS, could not be sited on Fort Carson. In addition, it could not be sited on thePCMS because of a constraint to conducting live-fire operations caused by a natural gas pipeline thatbisects the maneuver area (Figure 2–15). The surface danger zone of the BAX range, which is thearea where possible expended rounds and UXO could fall, along with the range footprint itself cannotbe sited in a way that does not potentially jeopardize the natural gas pipeline and compromise the maneuveroperations required to support all of Fort Carson’s units.As discussed in TC 25-8 the SBCT requires a range capable of supporting CALFEX training and theintegrated combined arms training at higher echelons within the SBCT. A DMPRC can serve as an alternaterange to the BAX for the SBCT to meet CALFEX training requirements (Table 2–1). AlthoughFort Carson has a DMPRC, that can support the 2/25 th live-fire training requirements, this solutionis limited because the DMPRC would be heavily scheduled by the three HBCTs that would bestationed at Fort Carson as part of BRAC realignments. Range scheduling would need to be tightlymanaged to allow all units to meet all of their necessary training requirements, but even then, it wouldbe difficult for all units to meet their collective live-fire training requirements.To accommodate the SBCT training requirements of the 2/25 th , an MPMG and an UAC would needto be constructed. These training range projects would not be ready to support the requirements of theSBCT until 2012, at the earliest, and the SBCT would need to use outdated ranges as an interim solutionto qualify its Soldiers in machine gun proficiency. In addition, the 2/25 th would be required to usenon-standard urban operations facilities located at PCMS to train a limited range of urban non-livefiretasks until the UAC was completed. The MPMG would be planned for construction on top of anexisting, but outdated, machine gun range. The UAC, which is a 2- to 3-acre urban training complex,would be sited on previously undisturbed land that has been previously studied as part of range planningefforts and found to be compatible with UAC range activities. Figure 2–16 shows the locationswhere the MPMG and UAC ranges would be sited in support of the stationing of the 2/25 th SBCT.Live-Fire Training Activities: The 2/25 th would conduct semi-annual individual and crew servedweapons qualifications, in accordance with Army policy for maintaining trained and ready units.Crews, squads, and platoons would also conduct collective training qualifications at least once everysix months. Almost all of these live-fire training activities would take place on Fort Carson’s trainingrange complexes. In addition to weapons qualifications, larger units at the company and battalionlevel would also conduct combined arms live-fire training to ensure proper integration and synchronizationof its different types of units in combat scenarios. As part of this alternative, the 2/25 th wouldconduct company and battalion CALFEXs at the DMPRC located at Fort Carson.The 4,105 Soldiers of the SBCT would require approximately 13 million blank and live-trainingrounds of ammunition and explosives to meet live-fire training requirements fully. The 4/4 th IBCT requiresapproximately 6.9 million munitions to execute its current training strategies. This representsFebruary 2008 2–43 2/25th SBCT Final EIS