Oregon National Guard breaks ground on $12 million machine gun range

Bend, Ore. (KTVZ) --- The Oregon National Guard and the U.S. Navy broke ground yesterday on a $12 million Multi-Purpose Machine Gun Range at the Naval Weapons Systems Training Facility in Boardman.

The project will create the first and only Army Standard crew-served weapons range in Oregon, allowing soldiers to conduct heavy weapons qualifications in-state.

Currently, Oregon soldiers must travel to out-of-state military installations in Yakima, Wash., or Boise, Idaho, to qualify on crew-served weapons. The new facility fulfills a license agreement signed in August 2004 between the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy and the Oregon Military Department.

Once completed, the facility will support qualification training on crew-served weapons systems, including the M240, M2 and MK19. The range is also designed to accommodate the Army's Next Generation Squad Weapon and its 6.8 mm round as soldiers transition to the new system in coming years.

Brig. Gen. Alan R. Gronewold, the adjutant general of Oregon, highlighted the operational benefits of training locally during the ceremony. “That travel costs time, costs money and it pulls our soldiers away from being available here at home when the state needs them most,” Gronewold said. “This range changes that.”

Reaching the groundbreaking required more than two decades of administrative work, including placement on the military's Future Years Development Plan in 2007, 2015, 2025 and 2026. The effort required a six-and-a-half-year environmental impact statement spanning more than 1,400 pages, alongside coordination across the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, the National Guard Bureau and the Oregon Military Department.

Gronewold emphasized the long-term impact of the 2004 agreement. “Twenty-two years ago, someone signed a piece of paper that made a promise, a promise that Oregon soldiers would someday train on their own ground for their own state,” Gronewold said. “Today, we break ground on keeping that promise and when this range opens, it won't just serve the soldiers standing here today; it will serve the generations of Oregon's citizen-soldiers who come after them.”

Cmdr. Joshua Overn, executive officer of Naval Air Station Whidbey Island and the Northwest Training Range Complex, delivered remarks on behalf of Capt. Nathan Gammache, the air station's commanding officer. Overn described proficiency with crew-served weapons as a cornerstone of ground combat. “Today, we aren't just turning dirt; we are laying the foundation for the future of our tactical readiness,” Overn said, adding that the facility will ensure deploying forces “are fully qualified, confident and lethal in the field.”

Overn also noted that the partnership between the Navy and the Oregon Military Department has helped advocate for military interests across the Pacific Northwest while maintaining compatible land and air use in the region.

Dignitaries in attendance included retired Maj. Gen. Raymond F. Rees, a former adjutant general of Oregon and Boardman City Manager Brandon Hammond. They were joined by Morrow and Umatilla county commissioners, local fire and police representatives, field representatives for Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and Guard leaders CW5 Lenora L. Landwehr and CMSgt Brent W. Cavanias.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is expected within the coming year as construction on the range wraps up.