FORT DEVENS, Mass. (June 23, 2015) -- Just over a decade ago, not much more than stationary cardboard targets and a sand berm stood on Tango Range. All that has changed.
In the time since the FBI occupied a good portion of the range on Fort Devens' South Post in 2004, a modern three-acre complex has risen from the once-barren site. Today, it bristles with a pair of automated ranges, a shoot house, and a nearly completed permanent classroom building and rappel tower.
"It's a very unique area, especially in New England," said Special Agent Ed Kappler, the FBI Boston Division's SWAT team leader and principal firearms instructor. "This is large enough that we can accomplish a lot … here, especially within the proximity of Boston and larger metro areas. It's a pretty good deal for us to come out here.
"There's other ranges to go to, but … I could bring a SWAT team in and we could do everything here that you might have to use separate ranges for."
The Fort Devens leadership sees its relationship with the FBI as mutually beneficial.
"We have an excellent partnership with the FBI," said Lt. Col. Steve Egan, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Devens commander. "Because of our range staff and their knowledge, we are able to work with the FBI to ensure they are able to conduct the necessary training exercises for their agency."
Up until recently, Sean Lehane served as deputy to the garrison commander at Fort Devens, whose current mission is to serve as a training resource for thousands of Army Reserve and National Guard Soldiers spread throughout the six New England states.
"It's very nice because primarily they're using (the complex) during the week," Lehane said of the FBI. "Our core customers -- and I'm talking the entire range -- (come in on) weekends. It kind of complements each other, in terms of using the full facility.
"The FBI … has done a good job of complying with our regulations. But we're able to fit it and mold it to where they meet their training objectives and we are able to meet our regulatory requirements in the process."
According to Keith Jackson, Fort Devens Range Control chief, the Fort Devens-FBI relationship has grown over the years.
"We have a really good relationship overall," Jackson said. "We're trying to take care of each other."
The FBI had begun firearms training at Fort Devens in the 1980s, but it wasn't until Kappler took over as regional firearms instructor 11 years ago that the Bureau began to establish a permanent physical presence.
"When I took the job, I took it with the caveat that I want to really do some stuff out here," Kappler said. "Our training is different than military or … Reserve force training."
According to Kappler, FBI agents must shoot and move during weapons qualification.
"We have to qualify quarterly," said Kappler, who has served 18 years with the FBI.
Kappler worked with the Fort Devens Engineering Office on the range concept, and he traveled to other ranges around the country for ideas about how to customize it. The FBI has provided approximately $3 million over the years to make it a reality.
The complex began with the installation of the automated outdoor ranges and continued with the construction of the shoot house.
"We use the shoot house for live-fire entry training with the SWAT teams," Kappler said. "Our SWAT operations unit down at Quantico (has) this place … on their radar as a place that we can do some specialty training, bring people in from all over the country."
The complex will become even more valuable once the tower facility is completed.
"That is just a phenomenal … training resource," Kappler said. "We designed it so that we could do interior training tactics with stairs, which is huge for us. (There are) danger areas going upstairs, downstairs.
"And we also built it so that we could rappel, we could fast rope out of it, use it for vertical-insertion training. We can climb it."
Kappler said that the Fort Devens facility has enhanced the capability of the FBI Boston Division's SWAT team.
"After we got the automated target system and we got the shoot house, then we (could) start getting our training a little more aggressive," Kappler said. "We can do different courses with them to where we're really, really pushing their proficiency. We're really pushing their abilities. As everybody knows, the more you exercise, the better shape you get in.
"Over the years, what we have seen with these ranges and being able to do some of the stuff -- especially in the shoot house -- our tactical proficiency has increased exponentially. There's not too many places in the country where you can get guys with loaded weapons moving through the woods and … do a live-fire clear of the (shoot) house."
The complex has benefited other agencies, as well. Kappler has worked extensively with the Massachusetts State Police and local police departments.
"This range, over the years, has provided a lot of relationships," Kappler said. "It's great for liaison with the local police departments."
Kappler related how the FBI facilities even proved useful to the Army's 10th Mountain Division just before it deployed.
"They were standing up a (Personal Security Detachment)," Kappler recalled. "They had nowhere to train, and they were going overseas. They were going over to Iraq in like four weeks. They couldn't get into training. They gave us a call."
The FBI and Massachusetts State Police combined to offer the Soldiers a comprehensive, weeklong school. Kappler said he will never forget the heartfelt thanks he received from a 10th Mountain senior NCO.
"It meant a lot," said Kappler, who stayed in touch with the Soldiers during their deployment. "It was awesome."
Where the FBI once used Tango Range about 80 days a year, Kappler now estimates that it's closer to 130 days annually.
"We occupy this place a lot more than what we did," Kappler said. "Just since I've been here … we've shot, just on this range alone, over four million rounds, and we've not had one unsafe act that resulted in an injury.
"We're going to be here for quite a while," Kappler said. "I feel both fortunate and proud of this place."
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