Yes the Benning Deployments do strongly effect the population of Columbus after all Benning is the largest employer in Metro Columbus. Benning is very important to the Columbus economy while Gordon is a much smaller base as was mentioned it is not as important to the economy of Augusta. Ft. Benning, Ft. Stewart, and Robbins Air Force base do help to carry the communities they are near because of the troop numbers & civillian employment numbers. Good news is the 3rd ID is suppose to begin returning in the summer months. It's hard to exactly balance out would Columbus have experienced a population growth if there were not deployments from the base, but on another note Lee County, AL located across the river from Columbus was in the top 100 places in the U.S. of population growth last year. Also not a drastic increase, but other counties around the area away from Benning did also experience growth.