Vision Clears in Fog as Ft. Lewis May Grow More

A few folks braved the dense fog to attend the Open House hosted by the Army for possible expansion of troops and units at Fort Lewis.

As blogged earlier, Ft. Lewis is examining the potential increase of 5,680 troops to Ft. Lewis. This would promise to bring the post's strength up to over 40,000 by 2013. The alternatives are:

1. Grow the Army This alternative would increase by approximately 1,880 soldiers by 2013. This alternative has been publicly available before.


2. Combat Service Support This alternative would be Alternative 1 plus about 1,000 Combat Service Support soldiers. This alternative has been publicly available before.


3. Combat Aviation Brigade This alternative would be Alternative 2 plus the addition of a 2,800 soldier Combat Aviation Brigade with 110 helicopters. This is not to be confused with an Environmental Assessment in 2005 for 800 soldiers in an aviation regiment. That earlier move from Germany to Ft. Lewis has been accomplished. This is a new action.


4. Status Quo This alternative is a no change from present conditions comparison.

Respondents have until February 5 to comment upon a scoping for an Environmental Impact Statement (National Environmental Protection Act). The full timeline guide is:

• Jan.-Jul. 2009 Draft EIS


• Jul.-Aug. 2009 Public Comments about the Draft EIS


• Aug.-Nov. 2009 Final EIS Issued


• Dec. 2009 Record of Decision