Fort Carson could lose 16,000 soldiers

Many in Colorado Springs are wearing green on Tuesday, not just to support soldiers at Fort Carson, but tokeep them there.

Wearing green was all part of an effort to show support for the thousands of Fort Carson soldiers who could be losing their jobs.

“They’re looking at perhaps Fort Carson losing up to 16,000 soldiers,” said Lt. Col. Armando Hernandez with Fort Carson.

If Fort Carson loses 16,000 soldiers there would just 8,000 soldiers left on post. That’s just a quarter of its current troop size.

Fort Carson isn’t the only post facing potential cuts, 30 others across the U.S. could also lose soldiers.

The Army has to cut 40,000 troops across the country because of financial requirements from the Budget Control Act of 2011.

“When the budget control act of 2011 was passed there were a lot of assumptions made that the wars in Iraq in Afghanistan winding down that we would need less troops. Well, I can tell you right now, there is a high demand for our soldiers across the globe. Fort Carson is involved in Africa, we still have soldiers there. We also have commitments in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Europe. We’re busy. Things are not slowing down for us,” said Hernandez.

Officials from the pentagon are in Colorado Springs Tuesday, to give citizens a chance to voice their opinions on what should be considered before making any job cut decisions.

The public forum begins at 4 p.m. at the Centennial Hall Auditorium, on 200 South Cascade Avenue.