Fort Walker updates, improves targetry systems enhancing training mission support

FORT WALKER, Virginia - There's a place in Northern Virginia, tucked away and unassuming, where Soldiers come to hone their combat advantage, and while you might not think Fort Walker has a reputation as a heavyweight on Team Army, this installation packs a big punch when it comes to Warfighter training.

Those in the know, however, recognize the importance of this diamond in the rough, and what it offers to units across the DoD is what keeps them coming back for more. Fort Walker has spent months elevating the training experience for their "customers," and units coming to train this spring will find several upgrades and enhancements to the installation's premiere Warfighter training range complexes.

One of the greatest assets for units coming to train is Range 24, a mammoth live-fire scheme and maneuver lane spanning over seven kilometers of pop-up targetry and totaling over 1600 acres. Range 24 can accommodate live-fire joint training exercises including mounted and dismounted infantry, mechanized armor, UAS application, and both fixed wing and rotary wing aerial gunnery. During the recent spring upgrade, the installation's Range Maintenance and Support Section and the Department of Public Works collaborated to repair and replace dozens of old and unserviceable infrastructures on the range, updating years-old concrete reinforcements, vital to the stability of the largest targets.

New targets have also been acquired for the highly used Daniels Impact Area. Reinforced steel mockups of mechanized armored vehicles were trucked in from South Carolina and are placed throughout the dedicated impact areas. These targets are environmentally friendly and designed to last far longer than average traditional targets of a scrapped vehicle or shipping container, decreasing impacts to the environment. Units now will have far clearer and concise target options for artillery, aerial gunnery, UAS and loitering munitions engagements, as well as other applications for anti-armor training opportunities.

"At Fort Walker, the robust reimbursable program affords us the capability to reinvest capital into shaping the training landscape of the next generation of Warfighters," said Stephen Eger, Fort Walker's Chief of Training. "The target project is just one aspect for FY23-24, and there are plans underway for the emplacement of a SACON 360Deg live-fire shoot house on Range 24 (at the boundary of Daniels Impact areas) that will provide a culminating objective for dismounted infantry, in conjunction with combined Arms live-fire events.

The future is here and the leadership at Fort Walker are strategically planning to ensure that our training catalog is fully capable to support emerging systems and Warfighting tactics," he said.

Additionally, Range Officer Joe Iampaglia said, "It was the support and dedication of the Range Maintenance and DPW that made this what it is today. With these range improvements, Fort Walker's training capability has greatly improved our support to the Warfighter."