Machine gun range for SC National Guard soldiers to be built at Fort Jackson
Feb 14, 2024 | 3:34 pm ET
Description
U.S. Marine Corps Pfc. Damian Tirado, left, machine gunner, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment (3/2), 2nd Marine Division (2d MARDIV) assists Pfc. Ty Huether, machine gunner, 3/2, 2d MARDIV, while shooting an M2 machine gun during a live fire range at Range G-21 on Camp Lejeune, N.C., Aug. 8, 2016. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Abraham Lopez, 2d MARDIV Combat Camera)
COLUMBIA — A new gun range being built at Fort Jackson will provide soldiers in the Army National Guard the only place in South Carolina to train with machine guns.
The Guard has seven ranges in South Carolina where soldiers can get qualified to operate rifles, pistols, grenade launchers, howitzers and more — but not machine guns.
That will change with the opening of a $9.5 million range at McCrady Training Center. Contracts are expected to be signed next month following recent approval by a state panel that oversees agency spending.
About 5,400 soldiers will use the range annually once it’s completed in late 2025, with about 150 soldiers there at a time, according to documents provided to the State Fiscal Accountability Authority.
Guard troops are required to qualify with their assigned weapons yearly, which involves earning a certain score hitting targets at a range. Soldiers in the South Carolina Guard currently travel to Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg) in North Carolina, Fort Eisenhower (formerly Fort Gordon) or Fort Stewart in Georgia for the necessary approval, said Maj. Karla Evans, a spokeswoman for the South Carolina Guard.
The new machine gun range will include six firing points with an automatic target system, range control tower, bleachers, storage building, and an 800-square-foot classroom, according to authority records.
Congress passed a massive military package. What’s in it for SC?
Almost $8 million of the total cost was authorized by the national defense law Congress passed in December.
The project has been in the works since 2013, according to the fiscal panel.
The range is among several Army National Guard projects approved in the federal law. New readiness centers in Aiken County and Joint Base Charleston are in the design phase, Evans said.
The National Guard is also working to replace World War II-era barracks at McCrady and Clarks Hill Training Site in McCormick County.
The decades-old barracks lack latrines, proper insulation, and have aging roofs, according to documents to the fiscal oversight panel. The $11.6 million project will cover four 32-man barracks at McCrady and four 16-man barracks at Clarks Hill.
“These upgrades are intended to sustain, restore, and maintain the facilities to extend the life of the facility to support daily operations,” Evans wrote in an email.
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