Photo By John Quinn | Members of the 854th Engineer Battalion, U.S. Army Reserve, discuss daily projects and...... read more read more
DEVENS Reserve Forces Training Area, Mass. – Army engineers cut construction costs while gaining vital hands-on experience to improve infrastructure for fellow Soldiers, boosting readiness with real-world training.
During their two-week Annual Training period in June, members of the 854th Engineer Battalion - including Soldiers from the 668th, 990th and 417th Engineer Companies - U.S. Army Reserve, replaced the wooden foundation for the pistol target frames at Papa Range as well as installed new safety gates in place of damaged ones and emplaced rubber shavings under obstacles to safeguard users.
By integrating Soldiers on Annual Training into the project, the Army Reserve is maximizing efficiency while reducing costs and ensuring critical upgrades are completed effectively at Devens Reserve Forces Training Area (RFTA).
Range Operations Officer Daniel Sanchez said using military engineers – both horizontal and vertical elements - reduced the overall cost of the project as Soldiers created the design, planned the work schedule, managed the worksite, removed the old foundation and replaced it as part of their assigned duties.
Sanchez said Devens RFTA purchased the materials, which included wooden beams, boards and hardware. The unit brought the tools and the workforce, he added.
“The whole order was under $10,000,” Sanchez said. “It would have cost around $50,000 with a contractor.”
While they also planned to upgrade the Papa Alpha pistol range as well, their efforts were halted as several turtles used the soft sand to lay eggs during their nesting season. As a result, the engineers couldn’t operate the heavy equipment needed to remove the old materials and install a new foundation.
The two pistol ranges were closed during the two-week project, but the effort improved the infrastructure for future use, provided invaluable training for Soldiers and made the most of funding.
1st Lt. Hunter Lyon, a platoon leader with 366th Engineer Co., U.S. Army Reserve, oversaw the project from start to finish.
“I am always hunting for these troop construction projects,” Lyons said. “I try to do them as much as possible.”
Lyon said the biggest obstacle is ensuring there is funding allocated for the supplies which are provided by the installation or unit requesting the project. He added troop construction also saves the cost of technical designs, project management and environmental oversight – which was crucial during the ongoing turtle nesting season – as trained Soldiers can perform those tasks.
“No project is the same,” Lyon said, adding the variety and challenge provides invaluable training and experience for members of his unit and attachments from battalion.
“Army Engineers work longer, harder and fast,” Lyon said, adding the 28 highly skilled Soldiers equipped with all the necessary tools and equipment can complete a project “in an exceptionally short period.”
Lyon said the Soldiers love getting hands-on experience, which benefits them in the military, with their civilian job and even with projects at home, and they revel in learning how to put their skills and training to work in a tangible way.
“It costs us time, training and sweat,” Lyon said, adding these projects are a great opportunity to have skilled Soldiers – regardless of rank - serve as mentors to newer members in the unit.
Lyon said he specifically tasked Pvt. 1st. Class Marco Mendoza, a carpenter and masonry specialist who works in construction as a civilian career, to oversee the preparation, cutting, drilling and assembly of the wooden foundation.
Mendoza worked with teams of young Soldiers to show them how to set up a worksite, efficiently cut posts to correct length, drill holes to secure boards to the rest of the foundation and work together.
Other leaders supervised the removal of the weather-worn foundation, preparing the site and installing the new one. The upgrades will improve range stability and optimize marksmanship training conditions for members of the joint warfighting force, law enforcement agencies and other users.
| Date Taken: | 07.24.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 07.24.2025 08:36 |
| Story ID: | 543703 |
| Location: | DEVENS, MASSACHUSETTS, US |
| Web Views: | 24 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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