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Sgt 1st Class, Rene Montoya, site supervisor for FTC, said Soldiers in the ARNG are required to throw a M67 fragmentation grenade during live-fire training at least once every two years.
The grenade has a lethal radius of 5 meters and can produce casualties up to 15 meters, dispersing fragments as far as 230 meters.
The new ARNG grenade range will help support the ARNG meet their Mission Essential Task List because hand grenade proficiency is critical to soldiering, Montoya said.
Montoya said the State Mobilization will be able to use the range to train Soldiers who are required to qualify on a hand grenade before deploying to a wartime theater.
Montoya said the new grenade range has been in the works since the Spring of 2015 and that safety was the primary concern.
“In order to maintain a safe instructional environment and enforce safety standards, Soldiers had to pass a practice range that was supervised by trained noncommissioned officers,” Montoya said. “Soldiers were directed on proper handling and use of explosives.”
To qualify on the live, hand-grenade course, Soldiers must pass every station at the practice grenade range before throwing a live familiarization grenade on one of the two throwing bays.
“The practice training was the most detailed grenade training I have received,” said Spc. Evan Baker, the first Soldier to qualify on the new range, 158th Headquarters and Headquarters Company. “The trainers made me feel very comfortable and confident after the practice lanes. The training reminded me how important safety is because if you make a mistake you can hurt yourself or others.”
| Date Taken: | 01.07.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 01.25.2017 14:20 |
| Story ID: | 221343 |
| Location: | PHOENIX, AZ, US |
| Web Views: | 49 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Grand Opening of Live Grenade Range goes off with a Bang, by SGT Crystal Reidy, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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