COLORADO SPRINGS — If you're hearing loud booms coming from Fort Carson, that's just our military conducting ongoing artillery firing exercises, and Monday KOAA got a closer peek at what those exercises entail as well as what they look and feel like.
The "...large-caliber training with live munitions" started during the early part of the summer, with Fort Carson officials stating that it would last through September.
The training itself, according to Jason Atkinson, Battalion Commander for the 2nd Battalion, 12th Field Artillery Regiment, is built by incorporating the most recent trends and threats from around the world into the exercises, "So that when we do deploy, what we see is not a surprise to us."
Artillery exercises can be quite loud, some neighbors report feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the noise.
According to a Fort Carson statement made in June:
Fort Carson is dedicated to being good neighbors and will continue to inform the public about training events that may affect surrounding communities. We will continue to listen to the community and work through any noise issues that arise. We strive to balance our training requirements with respecting our neighboring communities.
On Monday, Battalion Commander Atkinson followed up that statement saying, "We truly wouldn't do it if we didn't feel like it was necessary for us to be successful in combat and that's our ultimate goal, to balance the requirements for us to be successful with the requirements of our great neighbors. so it is truly done with thought in mind."
Fort Carson asks that any noise complaints regarding the artillery exercises be directed to their public affairs office at 719-526-9849.
