CARSON CITY – The Nevada National Guard held a groundbreaking ceremony Friday, Dec. 5, to begin construction on the Nevada Army National Guard Qualification Training Range. U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen, Rep. Mark Amodei and Nevada Land Component Commander, Brig. Gen. Randy Lau, attended. When completed, the range will become the only Department of the Army approved qualification range in the state of Nevada.
Since 2019, the Nevada Army Guard has sent more than 1,000 Soldiers to neighboring states annually for marksmanship qualifying, incurring substantial costs for travel, lodging, and meals. Units spend up to four training days annually qualifying at out-of-state ranges. The four days equated to more than 15 percent of the unit’s allocated training days and significantly impacted the Soldiers’ ability to train on other tasks.
The new $20 million Hawthorne Army Depot Record Fire Range facility will include 16 lanes for rifle training, 15 for pistol, four machine gun lanes (up to M240) and seven buildings. Four full-time U.S. Army, federal employees will maintain operations at the range.
