M240 weapons
familiarization training at
FMR
Many military installations were originally built in rural and somewhat remote
locations due to the nature of the mission activities and affordability of land.
Advances in weaponry technology has resulted in more powerful systems with
larger footprints for noise and other impacts resulting in a need for larger test
areas.
Local jurisdiction and military planning documents have not always been in
coordination as it relates to compatibility and ways to minimize encroachment
on mission footprints.
Source: 198th Regional Support
Group, AZARNG, Sept 07, 2018
As new development and growth has continued to expand outwards from the Phoenix
and Tucson metropolitan areas, the AZARNG has become aware of the potential for the
undeveloped areas around Florence Military Reservation to be sought for new
development.
Florence Military Reservation’s mission is to provide the facilities needed to train
AZARNG units and other National Guard troops, including firing ranges, maneuver areas,
and other activity areas. It serves as Arizona’s primary training site for individual
weapons qualifications. Primary elements of the mission include the administration of
firing ranges and the operation of an integrated training area for small arms, land
navigation, and helicopter training. There are 14 weapons training ranges located at
Florence Military Reservation, which are primarily located along the east side of Highway
79 and fire east across the installation into the impact area. Chapter 3, AZARNG Profile of
this Background Report provides additional information on the FMR training activities
that occur at each range and across the installation.
In 2011 the Army Public Health Command prepared an AZARNG Statewide Operational
Noise Management Plan (SONMP) for all AZARNG sites that have noise‐generating
activities. The FMR portion of the SONMP is based on operational data from the
installation and the application of various noise models to determine noise levels and
contours on and off the installation. The SONMP addresses noise as follows:
5-116
Nature of noise;
Noise metrics and noise management;
Overall noise environment for the installation;
Descriptions of the noise generating activities at various locations within the
installation;
Strategies for addressing noise; and
Current and potential incompatibilities with adjacent lands.
Compatibility Assessment