Issue:
SA‐1
Future weapons surface danger zones may
extend past the current boundaries of
Florence Military Reservation.
AZARNG Site:
Florence
Military
Reservation
Currently all of the surface danger zones for the
weapons fired at Florence Military Reservation
are contained within the installation boundaries.
The AZARNG is planning to use enhanced
ammunition rounds that generate larger surface
danger zones that may extend outside the
boundary onto land that is not managed by the
AZARNG.
Compatibility Assessment
Weapons SDZs are areas around a firing range where access is restricted due to hazards
from munitions firing, detonation and impacts. As discussed in Chapter 3 of this JLUS,
FMR has 14 weapons firing ranges, both live fire and non‐live fire, used to train military
personnel. Currently the SDZs for all FMR firing ranges are contained within the
installation boundary based on 3‐dimensional modeling that takes terrain into account.
This is a key factor for continued training operations at FMR as it means impacts from
weapons training on the firing ranges do not, under standard conditions, encroach on
private and public property outside the installation. Personnel, property and other
off‐installation resources and users are not exposed to hazards associated with FMR
range operations.
As the military continues to look for improvements in weapons lethality to support the
warfighter, new ammunition is being tested and, in some cases, brought into the Army’s
inventory. Enhanced ammunition also has the potential for changing the current SDZs
where it is used to train soldiers. As FMR moves toward using enhanced ammunition in
the future, as approved by the Army, the current mission footprints associated with firing
ranges may change with the potential for larger SDZs that are not mitigated by terrain
features and may extend outside the installation’s boundary. One example of an
enhanced ammunition is 6.8mm bullets designed to penetrate advanced body armor
while increasing range and improving accuracy. The bullets are fired from new weapons
such as the Next Generation Squad Automatic Rifle (NGSAR) which may replace the
M249 SAW in the near future and the Next Generation Squad Carbine (NGSC). In
addition, existing ammunition periodically undergo enhancements such as the
M855A1 bullet used in Army rifles. These improvements can affect ammunition firing
capabilities and potentially change range and power characteristics.
5-126
Compatibility Assessment