Artillery and rockets could start booming across the prairie in southeast Colorado if the Army is allowed to move forward with plans to start training with larger munitions at the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site northeast of Trinidad.
Soldiers, Air Force Academy cadets and other service members who visit the 235,000-acre training site for training currently can’t fire anything larger than a .50-caliber machine gun.
Under the proposed change, 60 and 120 mm mortars would be some of the most frequently used weapons, said Mike Camp, chief of training for Fort Carson and Piñon Canyon. While it would be rare, soldiers could also practice firing weapons as large as a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, commonly called HIMARS, that can be used to bring down bridges or buildings…