A Scaled Target Engagement Range New England Reservists Defeat the Range Space Problem With Ingenuity on a Large Scale

A happier marriage of high-tech and salvage there never was: lasers, c earage-door openers. car parts. and store-bought gadgetry, all fitted ingeniously into a World War 11-era movie theater at Fort Devcns. Massachusetts. Called the Scalcd Targets Engnge-ment Range (STER). it is nearly a perfecl synergism - the whole cx-ceeding the sum of its Rubc tioldberg parts - that offers New England-based Reserve Component and Guard units incomparable antitank training. The STER was born of need. Training space for tanks in the northcast is as scarce as winters arc long and punishins. Thus. the rela-tivcly modest $7OO,K)O invcstnienl in the STER has returned immcdiate dividends in unit readiness. not to mention obvious savings in aniniuni-tion costs. Thc STER hiis three indoor firing lancs; eilch is complctc with I h O - scalcd landscapes that come to life in n gunner's sight and each is cquippcd with;i mis of' pop-up and moving targets. A sound systcm adds the din of battle at the flick 01 a switch, and thc lights can replicate the shadowy illumination cast by overhead Ilares. With an M-55 lascr mountcd to the tank's main gun with a Brewslcr Dcvicc, gunncrs engage targets with laser pulses at simulated distances up to 1,800 meters. A flash of light from an automobile dome light wired into the base of the miniature targct signals a hit. "For Tank Tahles 1 and 11. it's the most outstanding indoor I'acility I've evcr seen," says SFC Shaun Grim-Icy. master gunner with D Troop, 5th Cavalry. 187th Inkintry Brigade (USA R ).

The overriding value of the STER, Grimley points out, is the amount of 12 ARMOR - uninterruptcd training time it affords, a Imon to those who soldier only on the weekend. "There's no sct-up time, no weather interference, just pure, unadultcratcd, training," he said A training room, outfitted with audio-visual learning pro.jcctors. is available to those not on the liring line. which enhanccs cross-training for crew members. To build the simulation facility was an evolutioiiary process, says Roland Roy, simulations hrnnch manager o f Fort Devens' training support division. "It was a process that began with jackhammers and lias heen sustained with experimcn-tation and innovation." he says. To power the tank turret was one such intiovation. By joining 500-amp rectiliers to the tank's jumper-cnhle rcceptaclc, the huilding remains iree of diesel exhaust, and hy day'send the tank's batteries are fully charged, not drained. Tank crews are not the only heneliciarics of the combat-simulation facility, however, lor it is easily adapted and frequently used for TOW gunnery. A laser and television camera are attached to thc iiiissik launcher. The camera serves as a "critiquing tool" which provides an instant replay lor thc TOW gunner. Whcn fired. 21 pneumatic device on the TOW launcher provides a reolistic backblast, and aren-second delay in the lascr circuitry accurately simulatcs thc missile's flight time to targct. The STER gets high marks from TOW gunners. "It's a s closc as you can get to the rcal thing." says Richard Billing. an antiannor platoon sergcnnt with thc Conncc-ticut Army National (hard's LO2d In hnt ry. Billing rates the STER in superlatives -- "The best training for TOW gunnery hecause it allows the gunner not only IO track thc targct, hut to see whcrc hc's hitting.;FC Grimley, master gunner, at the Ft. Devens scaled range. ARMOR - "Gunners who cxcel in simulation are candidates to fire the one service missile the hattalion fires each year," Billing added. The ingenuity that has transformed an aging movie theater into a state-of-thc-art training Facility continues to be an important part o f the STER's development. According to Roy, a lascr device has been successfully adapted for the 90-mm recoilless rifle, and plans include modifications for the 1/60-scale to simulatc targct distances from 250 to 3,OIH) meters. Says Roy: "We'll continue our efforts to incorporate current technology in the STER. You can't huild somcthins like this and expect it to he good lor a lifetime." The prospects are bright. then. for the unlikely pairing of high tech and the salvage yard, and New England Guardsmen and Reservists will continue to hone their tank-killing skills without firing alive round. John R. Rasmuson has been the Media Relations Officer in the Public Affairs Office at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, since 1977. He is a graduate of the Army Advanced Public Affairs Course, (Univeristy of Wisconsin), the Command and General Staff College, and holds a master's degree in English. He is a major in the Army Reserve and is currently serving as an intelligence officer with Army Forces, Iceland. While on active duty, he was assigned to the Army Security Agency Field Station in Asmara, Ethiopia. He is a member of the Association of the U. S. Army's Advisory Board of Directors. 13