El Paso County is home to
Army,
Air Force and
Space Force bases. These military installations border Colorado Springs to the north, south, and east, aside from
Schriever Space Force Base, which is located about 10 miles east of
Peterson Space Force Base.
Fort Carson Fort Carson, "The Mountain Post", is located just south of Colorado Springs at the base of the Rocky Mountains. It was established in 1942, following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. The city of Colorado Springs purchased land south of the city and donated it to the War Department. Construction began immediately and the first building, the camp headquarters, was completed January 31, 1942. Camp Carson was named in honor of the legendary Army scout Gen. Christopher "Kit" Carson, who explored much of the West in the 1800s. Camp Carson became Fort Carson in 1954. An additional training area was purchased in September 1983 and is called Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site (PCMS). Currently, Fort Carson is the home of 4th Infantry Division and several other units, including 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), the Colorado National Guard Regional Training Institute and PCMS, which is a maneuver training site for Fort Carson located near Trinidad, Colorado. The installation totals about 137,000 acres and PCMS is roughly 236,000 acres. Fort Carson has around 3,000 family housing units and 66 soldier barracks with 8,132 rooms. Services on the installation include four elementary schools, one middle school, a commissary, an exchange, and Evans Army Community Hospital, as well as Army Community Service facilities to include child development centers and youth centers and family morale, welfare, and recreation facilities to include a bowling alley, golf course, and numerous parks. Fort Carson's economic impact on Colorado Springs and the surrounding communities was approximately $2.3 billion during fiscal year 2014. Fort Carson has about 24,300 soldiers on the installation, with 44,700 family members. The installation also has around 8,000 veterans and 3,300 civilians.
Peterson Space Force Base The Space Force has critical aspects of their service based at Colorado Springs, which carry on missile defense operations and development. The Space Force bases a large section of its
national missile defense operations here, with Peterson Space Force Base set to operate large sections of the program. The base is also home to Space Force's
Combat Forces Command, and to NORAD headquarters. Peterson SFB is currently the headquarters of the operations-half of Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Strategic Command. Peterson is also headquarters for the
United States Northern Command, one of the
Unified Combatant Commands, which directs all branches of the U.S. military operations in their area of responsibility, which includes the continental United States, Alaska, Canada, and Mexico. In the event of national emergencies, the President or Secretary of Defense can call upon the command for any required military assistance. Service members from every branch of the
US military are stationed at the command. Peterson SFB is the current, possibly temporary home for
US Space Command, another Unified Combatant Command, whose area of operations is global operations occurring 50 miles or greater above the Earth.
Schriever Space Force Base (formerly Schriever AFB and Falcon AFB) Schriever Space Force Base is home to several Space Force mission Deltas, responsible for the operation and support of 175 Department of Defense satellites and installation support to 16 major tenant units, with a workforce of more than 7,700 personnel. It is the location of the
Global Positioning System (GPS) master control station and GPS Operations Center and the US Naval Observatory Alternate Master Clock, used to synchronize GPS satellite time. Schriever is also developing parts of national missile defense and runs parts of the annual wargames used by the nation's military. The base indirectly contributes an estimated $1 billion to the local Colorado Springs, CO area annually.
United States Air Force Academy s in front of the Academy Chapel Bordering the northwestern side of the city are the grounds of the United States Air Force Academy, where cadets train to become officers in the
Air Force and Space Force. The campus is famous for its unique chapel, and draws visitors year round. Most of the Air Force Academy's sports programs participate in the Mountain West Conference.
Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station (formerly Air Force Station) The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), headquartered on Peterson SFB, has a presence in
Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station. When it was built at the height of the
Cold War, NORAD caused some anxiety for the residents in and around Colorado Springs, who believed the installation would be a primary target during a
nuclear attack. Although NORAD still operates today, it is primarily given the task of the tracking of
ICBMs, and the military has recently decided to place Cheyenne Mountain's NORAD/NORTHCOM operations on warm standby and move operations to nearby Peterson Air Force Base. ==Communities==