FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. -- Range Control works nonstop, so troops on Fort Leonard Wood can too.
"We have 12 employees and one staff sergeant. We are staffed 24 hours a day," said Jeff Cornuet, Range Control supervisor.
The intricate network located at Range Control is like the nerve center for every training area on post. Cornuet said his staff has to maintain accountability for everybody using the areas. "If it moves, shoots or communicates, they let us know," he said.
Gary West, Range Control desk technician/range inspector, doesn't mind working from 2 to 10 p.m. because he believes Soldiers benefit from training in the dark.
"They need well-rounded training," West said. "Safety is always the main thing with troops out there. It's more hazardous at night, as you might well expect. We are here to make sure that they are following the safety rules and regulations."
West said the dark of night creates an added hazard to training.
"Fires happen at night more than during the day, because Soldiers are using tracers and overhead flares. More vehicle accidents happen at night. Soldiers tend to trip over things or run into things," West said. "Another thing we run into during nighttime land navigation is Soldiers getting lost. It happens on a regular basis. It's our job to go out in the woods and track them down."
One range on Fort Leonard Wood is used specifically at night -- the Night Infiltration Course -- but it's not the only training area used after dark.
"The Night Infiltration Course takes a lot of our attention because it's very high-profile. There are several other training areas that are used at night like night driving, blackout driving and shooting ranges," Cornuet said. "We have Sappers, Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training that do night operations. We also have the transportation troops doing night drives."
Cornuet said it's critical to Range Control's operations that they know where all the troops are located and what kind of training they are doing for several reasons, the most important of which is safety.
"We manage different aspects of training so there aren't any conflicts. We have live fire ranges and demolition ranges all over the complex. We have to make sure that when units maneuver from point A to point B they aren't maneuvering through an area that is being used for live fire or demo operations from another unit. It's important that we know where all of the moving pieces are. They all have to move together and not against each other," Cornuet said. "In the event of an emergency we have to know where the troops are in order to get emergency services there as quickly as possible."
The Range Control technicians are crucial when directing first responders, because they spend hours on Fort Leonard Wood's ranges and training areas, getting to know the back roads of post better than most.
John Yohn, Range Control desk technician/range inspector, said his team's knowledge of the roads can mean the difference between life or death in unfortunate situations.
"It's hard to find all of the training areas and ranges, so it's our responsibility to guide them in. Sometimes emergency vehicles can't make it everywhere. I have had to put first responders in the Range Control 4x4 and drive for them," Yohn said.
Not only is Range Control responsible for the ranges and training areas on post, but they also have to maintain the airspace too.
"We have to make sure the ranges stop firing when an aircraft is taking off or landing," West said. "Sometimes we have Soldiers from Fort Bragg, N.C., do nighttime jumps here."
As if knowing the location of every military member on each training area isn't complex enough, Range Control is also responsible for the civilians there as well.
"We have recreational activity we have to monitor out here, like all of the hunting and fishing," Cornuet said. "We have to know where the training is going on, and where the recreational activity is going on because those two should never conflict with one another. We have people raccoon hunt at night. We have several areas set aside for night hunting."
West said sometimes before the sun comes up they are called to help the early morning hunters too.
"We've had deer hunters get lost, or fall out of their deer stands," West said.
Cornuet said his "vampire" crew is critical to training because working the graveyard shift from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. allows training to continue around the clock.
"Without them we would have to shut down and either not have night training, or have troops out there that aren't supported," Cornuet said.
Yohn said he doesn't mind working many of his hours in the dark from 2 to 10 p.m. because you never know what the next call is going to be, and it makes him feel good to know he is helping troops.
"You have to be ready for anything," Yohn said. "As a former drill sergeant, I appreciate what they do. We are just here to assist them the best we can."
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