PINON CANYON MANEUVER SITE (PCMS)
In 1983, Fort Carson
acquired 237,000 acres of training land on the north side of the Purgatoire
River in southeast Colorado. Called the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site,
this training area belongs to Fort Carson and is located 150 miles to the
southeast of the main post.
PCMS can accommodate a full range of maneuver
training, including brigade-level, force-on-force maneuvers. No
live-fire training is conducted at Pinon Canyon. Pinon Canyon also
provides excellent dismounted maneuver terrain in the rugged canyons and arroyos
that empty into the nearby Purgatoire River.
Units have been training at
PCMS since 1985, and major training rotations typically have taken place there
as units prepare for the National Training Center at Fort Irwin,
CA.
Facilities at the training site include a railhead, showers, range
control facility helipad, dirt runway, small shoppette, and a vehicle
maintenance facility.