FORT STEWART, Ga. (Nov. 3, 2015) -- The longtime dream of having a dual-door, aviation gunnery range on Fort Stewart is becoming a reality.
Two CH-47 Chinook helicopters, from 2nd Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, slingloaded six M113 armored personnel carriers along with 12, 55-gallon drums full of concrete onto the range to be used as targets.
Chief Warrant Officer 4 Rob Senefeld, master gunner, 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade said this is something the leaders on Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield have been wanting to do for a long time.
"I initially started working on making this range happen just a few years ago, but Fort Stewart proper has been talking about a door gunnery range for 15 years," Senefeld said.
One of the reasons for the range is the cost savings. The cost of flying a CH-47 to Fort Gordon, where until now the range has been conducted, is over $10,000 an hour.
"Every combat aviation brigade commander understands the importance of challenging their crew members," Senefeld said. "By shooting out both sides of the aircraft at the same time, it creates a much more challenging crew coordination task."
Senefeld said the job could not have happened without help from 38th Explosive Ordnance Disposal team, a tenant unit on Fort Stewart, and the 703rd Brigade Support Battalion.
Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey Chafin, 38th Explosive Ordnance Disposal, or EOD, provided a vital service in getting the range complete.
"My team cleared six individual target areas of unexploded ordnance and trees so they could safely place the target vehicles on the range," Chafin said. "We do range maintenance as well as part of our EOD job."
Additionally, 1st Lt. Kyle Palentino, Company A, 703rd Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, and several other Soldiers from the support unit, helped to hook up the slingloaded equipment to the helicopters.
"It's humbling to do something like this because I'm learning at the same time as executing, and I like being a part of a bigger mission," Palentino said. "The guys out here love to work hands on and getting out of the office for a live mission."
There have been calls coming in from other units who would love to train their crews on the dual door gunnery range.
"We've had National Guard units and special operations units on HAAF [Hunter Army Airfield] that want to start using the range," Senefeld said. "It's going to be awesome."
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