Fort Carson At the end of the Cold War, the US Army considered new options for the integration and organization of active duty, Army Reserve and Army National Guard units in training and deployment. Two division headquarters activated in the active duty component for training National Guard units. The 7th Infantry Division and the 24th Infantry Division headquarters were selected. The subordinate brigades of the divisions did not activate so they could not be deployed as divisions, however their active duty status would allow the headquarters to focus on the national guard units under them full-time. The headquarters company of the 7th Infantry Division (Light) formally reactivated on 4 June 1999, at Fort Carson, Colorado, as the first Active Component/Reserve Component division. The reserve formations that made up the 7th Infantry Division included the 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the Arkansas National Guard, the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the Oregon National Guard and the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the Oklahoma National Guard. Fort Carson became the new headquarters for the division. The division headquarters also provided training assistance in preparation for small-scale National Guard operations, Joint Readiness Training Center rotations, leadership training for National Guard commanders, and annual summer training for the three brigades. As a part of this commitment, the 7th Infantry Division headquarters would deploy a command element to serve as higher headquarters for large-scale training and field exercises, evaluating and coordinating the units as they trained. It would also conduct quarterly status checks with the three brigades to discuss readiness and resource issues affecting those units, ensuring that they were at peak performance should they be needed. To expand upon the concept of Reserve component and National Guard components, the First Army activated Division East and Division West, two commands responsible for training reserve units' readiness and mobilization exercises. Division West, activated at Fort Carson. This transformation was part of an overall restructuring of the US Army to streamline the organizations overseeing training. The Division West took control of reserve units in 21 states west of the Mississippi River, eliminating the need for the 7th Infantry Division headquarters. As such it was subsequently inactivated for the last time on 22 August 2006 at Fort Carson. Though it was inactivated, the division was identified as the highest priority inactive division in the United States Army Center of Military History's scheme based on age,