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CATM construction aims for early 2013 finish
Posted 7/16/2012 Updated 7/18/2012
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by Senior Airman William A. O'Brien
39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
7/16/2012 - INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey -- When walking onto the shooting range at the Combat Arms Training and Maintenance facility, the sound of live rounds firing would usually ring through the compound. Right now, however, that is not the case.
The sound of weapons firing is replaced by the sound of contractors building a new $1.2 million, fully contained shooting range.
The project, which started in early May, will provide both the Turkish air force and the U.S. Air Force with a range capable of facilitating adequate training on a variety of small arms weapons, as well as proper disposal of expelled rounds.
"We (had) a 25-meter range that was partially contained; now it's going to be fully contained," said Staff Sgt. Sean Dias, 39th Security Forces Squadron assistant NCO in charge of CATM. "The renovation project will bring the range back up to standards. Currently it doesn't meet standards."
To upgrade the range, contractors will replace the current vertical baffles, which are used to stop rounds from leaving the range area with horizontal ones, which will send the fired rounds to the back of the range.
"We had vertical baffles, which are no longer authorized," said Dias. "The baffles we're going to have are going to be angled and overlapped, so you can't see any light from the firing lines."
A system to break down the fired ammunition for disposal will be added, and a contract put in place for the pickup and disposal of used rounds in accordance with environmental regulations.
"The target containment trap and the augers are going to be serviced," said Senior Airman Jonathan Rowe, 39th SFS CATM instructor. "Augers are a system that breaks down bullets for the dust containment unit to take them away to the back of the range."
The floor of the range was also hinged together, which no longer meets Air Force regulations.
"They will be replacing the floor, making it seamless," said Rowe. "It will also be capable of taking blasts of up to 5,000 pounds per square inch."
Once the renovations are complete, several parties, including the instructors themselves, are required to ensure the range is safe for firing. Testing the range ensures rounds will not leave the compound and potentially harm people and ensure Airmen's safety while training.
"We have what's called an engineering technical letter and what it is, is basically the range bible. It's what we go by to see what the range has to have for someone to shoot," said Dias. "For someone to shoot, for example 7.62 (caliber) rounds, we have to ensure the maximum ordnance or surface danger zone. Surface danger zone is how far a bullet is going to travel after you pull the trigger. Safety is a huge concern here because here at Incirlik, we're tucked away in a corner and we cannot support over 3000 meters."
After all the safety checks are done, the CATM instructors must test fire the range prior to allowing others to shoot. However, the instructors won't be shooting at targets. Instead they will take aim at the range itself to ensure it is capable of withstanding the impact of bullets before they allow others to fire.
"Once the range is ready to be opened, we'll have to test fire and ensure it meets all of our standards," said Dias. "We have blinds that go up and we'll shoot the ground and make sure there's no splash or that it causes any unnecessary ricochet, things of that nature. We'll do multiple fire tests and single fire tests. There are a lot of things that are incorporated into reopening a range."
While the range is inoperative, Airmen who require combat arms training are receiving it at other U.S. Air Forces in Europe bases. Completion is expected in early 2013. |
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