Fort Carson is hosting nearly 300 soldiers and 30 helicopters from Fort Riley in Kansas for high altitude training. KRCC’s Eliza Densmore reports.
The goal is to acclimate Fort Riley soldiers to the altitude and terrain of Colorado, which is similar to that of Afghanistan. Fort Carson spokeswoman Dee McNutt says the soldiers will fly in the mountains to gage how the landscape affects helicopters.
"We have corridors that they fly in, we have agreements with the local forest service and other government agencies where they fly to when they do landing and flying through the corridors."
McNutt says the training isn’t anything new for the base. Almost every aviation unit in the army has come to Fort Carson for this training. Soldiers will be flying Blackhawk, Apache, and Kiowa aircrafts. The training runs through mid-December.
