About 5,000 soldiers and hundreds of vehicles are heading to a training exercise on the plains of Colorado.

FORT CARSON (AP) — About 5,000 soldiers and hundreds of vehicles are heading to a training exercise on the plains of Colorado.

The Gazette reports that over 60 separate convoys of about 20 vehicles each are using two routes to travel from Fort Carson near Colorado Springs to the Pinon (PIN’-yun) Canyon Maneuver Site this week to avoid jamming traffic.

The vehicles making the 140-mile (225-kilometer) trip include eight-wheeled, 18-ton Strykers.

The soldiers will be preparing to fight a mock war in the California desert but the journey along Colorado highways is also part of the training for the 1st Brigade Combat Team. The unit is designed to drive itself into war.