Michael Maddox
CAMP ATTERBURY JOINT MANEUVER TRAINING CENTER, Ind. (Army News Service, May 27, 2011) -- A small army moved in on four ranges to send a wide variety of rounds downrange during a three-day weapons demonstration event here.
The National Defense Industrial Association's International held its annual Infantry & Joint Service Small Arms Symposium & Exhibition this year at Camp Atterbury. The symposium provides a forum where small arms community members from across the globe come together for technical paper presentations, informational speakers, and exhibits of the hardware used by current and future defense organizations.
As soon as range safety officers gave the go ahead, exhibition attendees were treated to firing any kind of weapon they could imagine, including handguns, rifles, machineguns, grenade and rocket launchers.
While it was exciting for visitors to try out all of the weapons, Department of Defense personnel in attendance were also prospecting to see if there may be use for some of the weapon technologies in the nation's future arsenal.
The smell of gun powder and the excitement of participants filled the range as more than 700 demonstrators, DOD program managers and weapons industry professionals were able to learn about and fire competitor's weapons.
Camp Atterbury provided a great venue for the live fires, said Sal Fanelli, USMC Infantry Weapons Engineer from Quantico, Va., and firepower session chairman for the NDIA's annual small arms convention.
"One of the key features of this is that we demonstrate current or new technology in weapons systems," said Fanelli. "We invite all kinds of people, so you've got Army, Navy Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard officials represented here, plus current manufacturers of weapons systems for DOD and new start businesses.
"This also allows DoD program managers to come out and see how the industry is responding to their needs," added Fanelli.
He said places that offer what Camp Atterbury can are few and far between.
"What I look for every year is a range complex where we can have this type of venue," he said. "There are commercial ranges but they only allow small stuff. There are very, very few ranges in the U.S. where we can go and shoot everything from handguns through grenade launchers, tracers and HE (high explosive) ammunition.
"If you can't show these things on a range, it really doesn't get your point across. This range complex is just awesome to do that because you have a vast array of targets, and companies get to show exactly how their equipment works," he added.
Fanelli said the Indiana National Guard's willingness to accommodate the symposium has been top-notch.
"The range folks stepped up and helped us secure the ranges. Atterbury's installation support came online and set up everything -- got us range support, range safety officers, and have taken care of all of the communication efforts," he said. "The security folks have been great at helping us get through and pre-assigning security clearances for people to just roll right in."
Carrie Olsen, with the U.S. Army Small Arms Branch at Fort Benning, Ga., said the event gives her organization a chance to see what vendors can offer the DOD and if they can accommodate new war-fighting requirements.
"We came out to see what all of the vendors are developing, see what the capabilities they are coming out with," she said. "I've been looking at calibers, suppressors, enablers, just anything that we can incorporate into future (planning) documents to give our war fighters betters capabilities in battle."
Olsen said there was a lot of interesting technology being demonstrated at the live-fire.
"We're working on some suppressor requirements, some handgun requirements, and things that are working their way though Department of the Army staffing right now," she said. "And we have definitely incorporated capabilities from past symposiums into our new documents from things that we have seen out here in the past."
(Michael Maddox writes for Camp Atterbury Public Affairs)
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