Combat Arms Instructors upgrade grenade range

82nd Security Forces Squadron combat arms instructors stand in front of their newly refurbished 203 grenade training range on Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, Oct. 6, 2015. This team helped rebuild the range, saving the Air Force nearly $13,200 which increased training effectiveness and realism. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Kyle Gese)

Combat Arms Instructors upgrade grenade range

Senior Airman Bradley Primmer, 82nd Security Forces Squadron combat arms instructor, demonstrates the 203 grenade launcher on the newly refurbished 203 grenade training range on Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, Oct. 6, 2015. He and his team helped rebuild the range, saving the Air Force nearly $13,200 which increased training effectiveness and realism. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Kyle Gese)

Combat Arms Instructors upgrade grenade range

This photo shows the newly refurbished 203 grenade training range on Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, Oct. 6, 2015. 82nd Security Forces Squadron combat arms instructors to increase training effectiveness and realism, recently refurbished this training range. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Kyle Gese)

Combat Arms Instructors upgrade grenade range

Published Oct. 16, 2015
By Senior Airman Kyle Gese
82nd Training Wing Public Affairs

SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- What started as a mere junk yard later transformed into five quarter-inch steel plates, two new launching positions and clean 203 grenade launching field.

Tech. Sgt. Randall Disch along with more than 10 other combat arms instructors - who train base personnel how to use different weapons systems - took initiative to clean up and refurbish their 203-grenade launching practice range.

"Once we looked at having it rebuilt, we looked at having the work contracted out," Disch said. "They gave us a quote of $15,000; we did it with $1,800."

Not only were they cleaning up an eyesore of a range, according to Disch, but they also made it their mission to correct the distances between the firing post and targets in an effort to maximize effectiveness and make the training feel as real as they could.

Disch described the old range as a long-lived wooden desk - weathered and falling apart - a couple of old railroad tie targets that were nailed together and would collapse with very little force, a van that wasn't at the appropriate distance, some old ammo crates and firing posts that were cut from tree branches and placed between a couple of tee posts.

Overall, Disch described the range as "old and decrepit."

"It was really a very hodge podge miscellaneous mixture of things," he said. "Rather than being told 'that target is at 200 meters' when in reality it was not, they are now able to actually see a target at 200 meters and engage it utilizing the sighting system on the weapon."

Now completely refurbished, Disch and his teammates are able to give Airmen across the base the best possible training with their new range and equipment; maximizing range effectiveness at relatively low cost to the Air Force.