The United States Military plays a very important role in the city. Colorado Springs is home to both Army and Air Force bases and their numerous support bases around the county. Excluding Schriever Air Force Base, all these military installations are on the border of the city, to the north, south and east.

Fort Carson

Fort Carson is the city's largest military base, and until mid-2006 was home to the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, which relocated to Fort Hood, Texas. Sometime in 2009, Fort Carson will be the home station of the 4th Infantry Division, which will nearly double the base's population. Fort Carson is host to various training grounds for infantry, armor, and aviation units (specifically the OH-58 Kiowa Warrior). Fort Carson is also the headquarters of the second and third battalions of the 10th Special Forces Group.

Peterson Air Force Base

The Air Force has critical aspects of their service based at Colorado Springs which carry on missile defense operations and development. The Air Force bases a large section of the national missile defense operations here, with Peterson Air Force Base set to operate large sections of the program. Peterson AFB is currently the headquarters of the majority of Air Force Space Command and the operations half of Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Strategic Command (SMDC/ARSTRAT).

Peterson is also headquarters for the United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), one of the Unified Combatant Commands. USNORTHCOM directs all branches of the U.S. military operations in their area of responsibility which includes the continental United States, Alaska, Canada, and Mexico. In the event of national emergencies the President or Secretary of Defense can call upon USNORTHCOM for any required military assistance. Service members from every branch of US Military are stationed at the command.

Schriever Air Force Base (formerly Falcon AFB)

Schriever AFB is home to the 50th Space Wing that controls warning, navigational, and communications satellites. It is the location of the global positioning system (GPS) master control station and GPS Operations Center and the US Naval Observatory Alternate Master Clock used to synchronize GPS satellite time. Schriever is also developing parts of national missile defense and runs parts of the annual wargames used by the nations military.

NORAD and Cheyenne Mountain Air Station

North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), a component of America's missile defense system, is located in Cheyenne Mountain Air Station. When it was built at the height of the Cold War it caused much anxiety for the residents of Colorado Springs. Although NORAD still operates, today it is primarily tasked with the tracking of ICBMs, but the military has recently decided to place Cheyenne Mountain's NORAD/NORTHCOM operations on standby and move operations to nearby Peterson Air Force Base.

United States Air Force Academy

The north end of the city is home to the vast United States Air Force Academy grounds, where cadets train to become officers in the Air Force. The campus is famous for its unique chapel and draws visitors year round. The Air Force sports programs belong to the Mountain West Conference.