Army Backs Off Expansion At Colorado Training Site

PUEBLO, Colo. (AP) -- The acting commander at Fort Carson says the Army has no current plans to expand a 370-square-mile training site in southeastern Colorado.

Brig. Gen. James Doty told the Pueblo Chieftain in Thursday's editions that a change in training doctrine and looming budget cuts mean the Army has "no plans and no money" to enlarge the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site.

That would represent a major shift in the Army's position. For several years, the Army has said it needed to add about 156 square miles to the site to accommodate new weapons and tactics and a proposed increase in troop numbers.

Doty says the Army has decided that future large-scale exercises using live ammunition will be conducted only at posts in California and Louisiana, not Pinon Canyon.

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