U.S. Senator Jackie Rosen successfully secured approval to build a new small arms range at the Hawthorne Army Depot.
Two weeks ago, U.S. Senator Jackie Rosen successfully secured approval to build a new small arms range at the Hawthorne Army Depot for use by the Nevada Army National Guard. This will allow solders to fulfill their weapons qualification requirement without having to travel out of state every year to obtain the necessary certifications. In years past, Nevada Guard military members had to drive to Utah, Arizona, Idaho, and California to train with M-9 pistols, M-4, and M-16 rifles because there has not been a range within the state to practice at.
“When I found out our soldiers had to travel hundreds of miles out of state to train, I knew we had to do something to fix this,” said Senator Jacky Rosen, who also serves as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Rosen initially raised the issue at an Armed Services Committee meeting in May of this year and was able to ensure a commitment for the Army to have a temporary solution in place this year with a permanent small arms range in place by 2025. The size of the interim small arms range is currently being discussed with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers as well as the U.S. Army, but it will likely have four lanes of training.
“It costs about five to six hundred thousand dollars to send all of the different Guard members, all the service men and women, out of state to get the kind of proficiency and training that they need, and by building this right here in Hawthorne, the Army is going to save money,” Senator Rosen said.
“Time is money when you’re training and so the ability to do it in-state provides our soldiers a chance to have more time to train,” Nevada Guard Spokesperson Captain Emerson Marcus told KTVN News. He later told the MCIN that it was easy to choose Hawthorne for this small arms range since it’s home to the army ammunition depot.
“It makes sense to partner with our active duty branch to house the National Guard and more than 1,000 reserves here in the state,” Captain Marcus added.
Active duty and reserve members will also be permitted to use the range.
