FORT HUACHUCA, Ariz. - Fort Huachuca's range is going green, in order to protect the environment, sustain the range program and keep Soldiers safer on the range and in the field.
On Nov. 23 EOD Technology, Inc. personnel began implementing a program called Range Exchange, which consists of removing old tank and truck body targets, from Ranges 9 and 12. The ranges are multipurpose machine gun ranges used to train Soldiers with several different weapons systems, including automatic weapons.
Range Exchange includes three processes, which are green range, green scrap and green targets. EODT personnel are implementing green scrap and green targets here.
Thirty-eight targets, or about 22 tons of scrap material, will be replaced with environment-friendly, green, solid steel, three-dimensional targets.
They're made to last a long time, don't pollute the environment and when their service life is complete they can be recycled, explains Scott Miller, who oversees the Range Control Branch. Miller is the chief of the Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security Directorate's Training Division.
The project began in 2007, when Bill Hooper, chief of the Range Control Branch, attended a Sustainable Range Program Conference and met Bill Brown, project manager for EODT. Brown briefed Hooper on the program, visited the installation and said they could assist with the project.
Miller notes the purpose of the $300,000 program is to protect the environment and ensure the installation has a sustainable range program for the future.
"Fort Huachuca has been here a long time, and we've shot many rounds on these ranges, over many years; we want to ensure that we can continue to do that for our warfighters in the future," he said.
The new targets will also help with familiarization fire to ensure Soldiers can see what they're aiming at. The design allows for less ricochet hazard because the metal is angled. This is designed to help protect the shooter because the bullet will hit the target and travel up, instead of down or back at them.
Miller also notes the new, environment-friendly targets are lighter than the old ones, which will allow personnel in the Range Control Branch to easily move the targets to where they see fit.
To begin the 10-day process, Brown's seven-man team clears the area around the old vehicles on the range, and certifies that the old targets are free of hazardous materials, fluids or explosives. He notes safety is important to his crew, and they participate in safety briefs each morning and evening because he wants to ensure he has properly trained personnel.
Next the crew demilitarizes the scrap metal, cuts it up, and places it in an articulating dump. They take the metal to a lay-down area and screen the material for unexploded ordinances. After that, the team loads the scrap into a trailer, and it's processed through a local scrap dealer.
Brown says the time it takes to remove a target depends on its size. The duration to oust a four-ton tank is up to a day and a half, and it takes the crew about half an hour to remove a jeep.
Miller and Brown agree that although the concentration is on the environment, they mostly concentrate on the Soldier.
"[It's] a realistic silhouette of what a Soldier may see when they're in the field, whether it's a T72, BMP, or BRDM, they're seeing an actual silhouette," Brown explains, noting, "this really prepares [the] warfighter, and [they] get more realistic training out of it so they know that's what they're looking for when they're under fire." A T72 is Russian tank, a BMP is a Russian armored personnel carrier and a BRDM is a Russian combat reconnaissance patrol vehicle.
Brown commends Fort Huachuca personnel by saying, "they [installation personnel] want us here, we're providing a quality product, quality service, and the relationship has been fantastic," adding that the relationship EODT has with the installation is one of the best they have.
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