Small arms ranges allow live-fire qualification training with weapons of a small caliber, i.e. handgun, rifle, shotgun, or machine gun. Small arms training is designed to train a soldier to be “qualified” in the use and maintenance of his or her assigned weapon. There are currently four active small arms ranges on Camp Edwards, which the Massachusetts Army National Guard uses for weapons familiarization, weapons zeroing (essentially customizing it to give the soldier a more accurate shot) and qualification.

The current active small arms ranges on Camp Edwards are Echo, India, Lima, and Sierra Ranges. Tango Range is currently inactive but is finishing reconstruction and should be active again in 2021. All active small arms ranges have been approved by the Environmental Management Commission (EMC) in accordance with the Chapter 47 of the Acts of 2002 and its associated Environmental Performance Standards (EPSs) and in coordination with the Massachusetts Army National Guard (MAARNG) at Camp Edwards. Small arms range design and Operations, Maintenance, and Monitoring Plans (OMMPs) are approved by the EMC. Once approved, the range can become active for live fire. The design and the OMMP are developed to reduce environmental impacts to the greatest extent possible with adaptive management and continuous review and approval the modus operandi.

With the military’s development of copper-based ammunition for its weapons systems, the MAARNG has moved to developing its small arms ranges to manage copper munitions. With exception of its pistol range (see Echo Range), lead rifle ammunition is no longer used at Camp Edwards. The three lead bullet capture ranges, Juliet, Kilo, and Tango Ranges, have been dismantled and lead rifle ammunition will not be used on Camp Edwards ranges. Juliet and Kilo Ranges are inactive and Tango Range is being reconstructed to serve as a copper ammunition zeroing range.

Sierra Range is a 10 lane automated 300-meter pop-up modified record of fire range using copper ammunition only and is used to qualify soldiers in marksmanship proficiency with rifles and machine guns. The EMC approved use of Sierra Range in June 2012. Sierra Range will be reconfigured to add 6 lanes to bring it to a 16 lane standard range set up.

India Range is a 25-meter firing range using copper ammunition to train soldiers on the skills necessary to align the sights on their weapons and practice basic marksmanship techniques against stationary targets, i.e. zeroing range. The range is used to zero rifles and machine guns to qualify at Sierra Range. Currently, India Range is a zeroing range for Sierra Range firing but with the reconstruction of Tango Range, India Range would become the zeroing range for the proposed Multi-Purpose Machine Gun Range. India Range was approved as an active range in May 2013.

Echo Range, a dual-purpose pistol range, is a Combat Pistol/Military Police Qualification Course (CPMPQC), consisting of 15 firing lanes with seven pop-up targets per lane offset along the firing lanes at varying distances with one fixed Military Police target at the end of the lane. In July 2017, the EMC approved the range.

Lima Range is used to train and test individual soldiers on the skills necessary to engage and defeat stationary target emplacements with the 40mm grenade launcher. In 2012, EPA Region 1 and the EMC approved returning to live firing on Lima Range using the M781 40mm Training Round. The M781 is a practice grenade that is fired as a projectile composed of a hollow plastic “windshield” filled with Day-Glo-Orange marking powder. The formula for the Day-Glo- Orange marking powder is considered to be non-toxic to human health and the environment.

Tango Range, previously a bullet trap (STAPP™ System) lead ammunition range, is currently being reconfigured to be standard 25 meter zeroing range using copper ammunition only. The range will support weapons qualification at Sierra Range. As opposed to a 7 mile drive from India Range, Soldiers will now be able to zero their weapons and walk to the qualification range.

The Infantry Squad Battle Course (ISBC) will be reconfigured to allow squad level live fire exercises using copper ammunition only and in accordance with the requirements of the Environmental Performance Standards, specifically EPS 19, for range development at Camp Edwards.

During 2015, the MAARNG was awarded a MILCON (Military Construction) project to construct a Multi-Purpose Machine Gun Range (MPMG) on Camp Edwards at the current KD Range. An MPMG is where soldiers train and qualify with automatic weapons. The approximately $11.5 million project consists of $9.7 for range construction and $1.8 million for targetry. Environmental contracting and review of the project began in May 2018 and includes review under both the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA). All these processes are coordinated with the Environmental Management Commission as required. Further information regarding this range can be found at https://www.massnationalguard.org/ERC/publications.htm

Points of Contact for Questions and/or further Information:

Massachusetts Army National Guard Environmental & Readiness Center
Michael Ciaranca, Deputy Director
339-202-9358
michael.a.ciaranca.nfg@mail.mil

Environmental Management Commission
Len Pinaud, MassDEP, EMC Environmental Officer
(508) 946-2871
leonard.pinaud@state.ma.us