Installation Setting and Use
Florence Military Reservation is one of Arizona’s largest National Guard training
areas with 18,616 acres. It is located approximately 20 miles east of Interstate 10,
the primary road between Phoenix and Tucson, and approximately 9.5 miles south of
U.S. Highway 60. State Route (SR) 79 skirts the western edge of the northern half of the
installation and bisects the southern half. The installation is composed of flat desert
scrubland and rolling hills cut by steep washes, with elevations ranging from roughly
1,500 feet above mean sea level in the southwestern portion to 2,150 feet in the
northeast. It is generally bounded to the east by the Mineral Mountains, to the south by
the Gila River, to the west by SR 79, and to the north by Cottonwood Canyon Road.
The primary training area at FMR is 7,751 acres. The Department of Defense (DoD) owns
5,545 acres of this land, as conveyed through Executive Order #1633 and withdrawn for
military use by President William Taft in 1912 (Figure 3‐1 shows ownership of the
different parcels of land comprising the FMR). Because this portion of the reservation is
owned by the DoD, it is where most activities and improvements are located. It includes
an administrative building, classrooms, barracks, a Military Operations on Urban Terrain
(MOUT) training site, weapons firing ranges, a range control building, range towers, a
bivouac area, maneuver areas, dismounted operations areas, and quarry training areas
(see Figure 3‐2). Figure 3‐3 illustrates the general land uses on the installation.
The Arizona DEMA owns 60 acres in the primary training area, immediately adjacent to
the southernmost portion of the DoD land. This land includes a Forward Operations Base
(FOB) training area. It previously also housed a Unit Training Equipment Site (UTES), but
this is currently not in operation. The Bureau of Land Management also owns acreage
within the primary training area, but east of the DoD‐owned parcels. The 840 acres is
leased to the AZARNG for its exclusive use and primarily serves as a weapons impact
area.
The Arizona State Land Department (ASLD) manages portions of the reservation and
allows 1,306 acres of Arizona State Trust land to be used exclusively by the AZARNG
through a commercial land lease. This acreage is north of the DoD holdings and within
the primary training area. It is used as an impact area and buffer between weapons firing
operations and land to the north. The ASLD provides additional acreage through a
Special Land Use Permit that allows AZARNG exclusive use‐rights for 22 days of the year.
The permit covers the 10,865 acres of Arizona State Trust land that constitute the
northern portion of the reservation currently used for bivouac, mounted, and
dismounted training. When not in use by the military, ASLD’s multiple use policy
supports cattle grazing, hunting, camping, birding, and other recreational opportunities.
Background Report
Florence Military
Reservation Fast
Facts
Size:
18,616 acres
Primary training
area used year-
round – 7,751
acres (5,605 ac.
owned / 2,146
ac. leased)
Limited use area
leased for 22
days per year –
10,865 acres
Nearest Town:
Level V Training
Center:
Town of Florence
directly south
Desert Training
Environment for
AZARNG
Training Areas:
Small arms
weapons
Tactical urban
combat
Land navigation
Maneuvering
Helicopter flight
Unmanned aerial
systems
3-7