The Range From Hell

Gone are the days when a sharp tank commander could G- 2 the qualification range, memorize where the targets came up, and plan (MPRC) built by the Idaho National Guard presents afresh challenge to every crew, and offers a target array that is so varied, it’s ahead for his hot run. Engaging targets at the multipurpose range complex impossible.arget reference points on the massive range keep tank commanders oriented But for all the exotic target m y, the capability that drives this range into the 21st century is the combination of video teaching aids and the Enhanced Re- moted Target System @RETS), a computerized program that allows the tower per- 1 sonnel to tailor the range to meet most gunnery tables. Daylight and thermal cameras mounted at the tower, linked with the MPRC‘s veto memorize. The largest range of its type in the world, construction began in November of 1988 and was completed in December of 1990. Covering some 5200 acres, the Idaho facility offers nine manuever lanes, each averaging 2.3 miles in length: and a road network of 29 miles links all aspects of the available training ground. With armor fighting positions in each h e, including 68 hull-down firing points and multiple stabilization runs, the tank commander that fires a table on this range will have his skills stretched to the limit. The wide-open spaces and long engagement distances make excellent tank country; and the heat inversion and gently rolling ground test a crew’s ability to find the target. ‘Target acquisition here is a challenge,” says MSG Gary Petruska, operations NCO. “A ml tank is a lot easier to see than a thermalized target. Sometimes the lava rock piles are actually hotter than the target.” More than once a crew has fmd-up the mid-afternoon heat signature of a stand of high desert lava rock. “After 2:OO a.m. it’s great shooting,” explains LTC Alan Gayhart, commander of the 2-116th Cavalry and full-time MPRC manager. “Things have cooled down by that time.” If terrain and visibility were not enough to distract the crew of a determined tank, the designers of the MPRC have 11 moving m o r targets (some covering 1,OOO meters), 60 stationary armor targets, 153 stationary infantry targets, and 45 moving infantry targets. All of these targets m both MILES and thermal equipped: thus the MPRC can evaluate individual, crew, section, platoon and company-team units up through Tank Table XII. hicle intercom monitoring radios, allow the range operator to observe and hem the tank crews ae-tions on the range. This system provides not only information on the tank and target, but permits additional safety surveillance of the range. And when the crew completes the run and returns for an after-action review, the video record, plus tape recordings of the vehicle’s radio transmissions, provide a solid record for analysis. “I told the loader HEAT, a tank commander may say,” explains LTC Gayhart, “but you play back the tape and it’s right there. SABOT, the guy says, and there’s no denying it.” But the trainers in Idaho are not satisfied with the status quo: they’re on the cutting edge of technology that takes qualification ranges even further into the future. They have requested, through the National Guard Bureau, a GPS system that locates each vehicle on the firing range, providing an icon ARMOR - 37 on a graphic display that shows both vehicle location and gun tube orientation for each tank on the range. When a tube violates the left or right limit of the range, or acquires another tank, the fire control system of the tank can be automatically shut down. This system goes further than the present one used by the National Training Center in that it is preemptory. “To ensure maximum safety, we currently require a safety officer in a vehicle to trail the firing tank; however, dust and obscuration frequently inhibit his ability to see all actions by The MPRC‘s target-rich environment indudes moving infantry targets, left, moving tank targets, including some that travel 1,000 m e ters. and a SAM site, at right. r- the tank. With our proposed system, we will be able to anticipate and prevent fratricide, rather than determine afterwards what happened.“ The Army’s MOLS (multiple objects locating system) was designed to fm these safety problems. However, this multimillion dollar system was never purchased and made available for use by multipurpose ranges, according to Gayhart. ‘The system we want is being used in cities around the country for locating critical vehicles like police c m and ambulances. It’s used around remote oil drilling sites, too.” The cost of this Training Possibilities at the MPRC *CALFEX (Combined Arms Live Fire) Armor Units *Tank Gunnery Tables V-XI1 *Tasks Supporting Tank Tactical Tables C-l Infantry Units *Company-Level Offensive & Defensive Operations Aviation Units *AH-64 Commander’s Gunnery Tables (day & night) *AH-64 Crew Gunnery Tables (day & night) *AH-64 Team Gunnery Tables

Figure 1 system? A small fraction of the cost of MOLS. The MPRC is the jewel amid the sprawling 138,OOO-am Orchard Training Center, where National Guard units nationwide con-ion-size force-on-force operations. Under the present system, units land at Gowen Field, some 26 miles duct UP to bald-north, then move by bus to the Orchard Tmining Area. Next they d n w equipment, move to a support facility (mess, water, classrooms), upload at the Ammo Supply Point, then either (a) roadmarch to firing positions at the MPRC, or (b) conduct manuever training enroute to the firing positions. Upon arriving, units can choose from the list of training possibilities at Figure 1. The range is presently being safety surveyed to support firing of the HELLFIRE missile. The inclusion of the Area Weapons Scoring System (AWSS) on the range presents the AH-64 crews with the same high scoring standards faced by the M1 crews. Six thousand meter shots for Apaches are just one more of LTC Gayhart’s goals to make the MPRC an even greater challenge for soldiers. Tank commander, if you think your crew is good, then this range will either prove it beyond any doubt, or it will humble you in a matter of moments. The fmt unit that fired this high desert training facility qualified only two out of 52 crews. The record is now 17 crews from a single battalion. That’s why just one run down my of the nine lanes will convince you that the sign over the target maintenance shack is right. This truly is the “range from hell.” ARMOR - 38