Influence and impact of the United States military on Colorado remains substantial despite the recent closing, or planned closing, of three bases – Lowry Air Force Base, Fitzsimons Army Medical Center and Rocky Mountain Arsenal.
Today, nine military installations operate in Colorado. They employ 29,733 military personnel and 10,183 civilians (fiscal year 2002). The bases cover 477,457 acres. U.S. Department of Defense spending in Colorado totals more than $5.3 billion annually. More than $2.6 billion represent Department of Defense contracts awarded to Colorado-based companies that supply services such as aircraft, missile defense, satellite or weapons designs, equipment and supplies.
Colorado’s most significant contribution to national defense is its status as home to the United States Space Command, an arm of the military that concerns itself primarily with space-based technologies such as navigation, communication and spy satellites, North American Aerospace Defense Command and weapons systems. It is an ultra-high technology command that incorporates all branches of the military. Many of the activities are highly classified.
United States Space Command is based at Peterson Air Force Base near Colorado Springs. Air Force Space Command also is based at Peterson, along with the newly formed Northern Command. Associated with Space Command activities are Schriever Air Force Base, Buckley Air Force Base and the Cheyenne Mountain complex. Activity at Schriever is centered around the nation’s satellite systems: the Global Positioning System (GPS), and the military’s spy and communications satellite system. Cheyenne Mountain is home to NORAD, a broad-based surveillance system that patrols the skies and space. NORAD is jointly staffed by the United States and Canada. Activity at Buckley is highly classified. Virtually no public information is available.
The Air Force Academy – one of three national service academies in the U.S. – is just north of Colorado Springs. The 18,000-acre campus at the base of the Rocky Mountains is a major tourist attraction and one of the finest academic institutions in America. Approximately 4,000 cadets are enrolled.
The United States Army opened Fort Carson south of Colorado Springs in 1942. The huge 373,300-acre base has served as an important training post for Army personnel ever since. Today more than 14,000 soldiers are on base, while more than 2,000 civilians are employed there. Other Army posts in the state include the largely dormant Rocky Mountain Arsenal and the Pueblo Chemical Depot. Fitzsimons Army Medical Center near Denver has been decommissioned, but activities are under way to eventually transfer the University of Colorado Health Sciences center to the site east of Denver.
