FORT CARSON, Colo. – First Army Division West, the unit responsible for the post-mobilization training of Army Reserve and National Guard Soldiers in the western United States, is moving its headquarters from Fort Carson to Fort Hood, Texas.
The move is part of the overall transformation of First Army, which is consolidating its subordinate commands and training brigades and battalions onto military installations where the training organizations are already operating. At Fort Hood, Division West will be co-located with the 120th Infantry Brigade, one of seven training brigades in the division. Eventually, two other Division West training brigades – the 166th Aviation Brigade, currently located at Fort Riley, Kan., and the 479th Field Artillery Brigade, currently located at Fort Sill, Okla. – will also move to Fort Hood.
“The moves within First Army are reducing the amount of travel required of personnel, which saves taxpayer money and enhances quality of life for personnel at the same time,” said Maj. Gen. Mark Graham, commanding general of Division West and Fort Carson.
Division West leaders have been actively preparing for the headquarters move since it was announced by First Army in 2008.
“We’ve just been waiting for the official go-ahead from the Department of the Army, which we received in late April,” Graham said. “Now we’re executing our re-stationing plans, which allow us to transfer operations from Colorado to Texas with full, on-going mission capability. The post-mobilization training we’re conducting for deploying units will continue seamlessly.”
The Division West headquarters move will affect about 90 active duty, Reserve and National Guard Soldiers and about 50 Department of the Army civilian employees. Depending on their status and preference, some of the current staff will transfer from Fort Carson to Fort Hood.
Personnel should be in place by August, with an advanced team arriving in mid July, allowing Families time to settle before school starts in late August.
