Training Marines is a noisy business but Quantico strives to be a good neighbor

Photo By James Andrews | With housing developments being built close to the Marine Corps Base Quantico ranges it is even more important for MCBQ to be a good neighbor and for the community to understand why noise on the ranges occurs.  

MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES

03.16.2017

Story by Valerie OBerry 

Marine Corps Base Quantico

With more than 54,000 acres of range and training areas aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico, training Marines to be mission ready is one of the primary functions of the base. Since 1917 Quantico has been training Marines to fight the country’s battles around the world and keep the citizens of the United States safe from any threats. But, making Marines combat ready is a noisy business. Sometimes, the noise made from artillery, grenades, rockets, mortars and some of the louder ordinance fired on the ranges disturbs the surrounding communities, particularly in Stafford County. However, one of Quantico’s priorities is to be a good neighbor and making noise is not taken lightly. Many processes are in place to try to keep the noise to a minimum.
“What is important for the public to understand is we don’t make this noise arbitrarily. It is necessary. We are training new officers for the Marine Corps and we don’t do this anywhere else, so it is kind of important for the entire strength and leadership of the Marine Corps,” Martin Dankanich, range safety specialist said.
In addition to the ranges being used to gain weapon proficiency, opportunity to train is also afforded to Department of Defense weapons experts, other federal agencies, as well as local and regional law enforcement agencies. The wide variety of live-fire ranges and the certifications weapons specialists can attain by using Quantico ranges makes the base an attractive, local resource to maintain marksmanship and war fighting proficiency.
However, to try and be a good neighbor, all requests to use the ranges, particularly when loud noise is expected, are scrutinized and scheduled by a staff of 11 in the Range Management Branch. The training has to be necessary and occur during non-quiet hours (quiet hours are from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.). Requests to train during quiet hours have to be approved by the base commander and there must be a very good reason to conduct the training at these times. Each week a fire order warning is created by Range Management, which lists units that are training, what they will be doing on the range and if loud noise is expected, among other things. If loud noise is expected, Range Management notifies the base Public Affairs Office that loud noise may occur and at what dates and times, so they can inform the public that there may be noise due to training.
“It (the noise) can be unfortunate and annoying. I live here in the community as well and my dog gets a little nervous when we drop artillery and the wind is just right so the noise can carry all the way down to just off of 17 in Stafford. If you have a little bit of high pressure and it is overcast, it keeps the sound waves down lower making the noise more intense and people are going to complain,” said Dankanich.
In addition to the ranges, trucks carrying ammunition to the ranges on public roads (particularly on 610) can also cause noise and concern in the community. As part of their good neighbor policy, Quantico is in the process of building a new, interior road that goes from MCB-3 to the ranges in order to keep the trucks off of public roads in the future.
“It may not seem like much to some, but it will be a big help to the community. I think it might go a long way to help out the relationships in the community.” he said.
In the meantime, Dankanich wants the public to know that those in charge of transporting ammunition are highly trained in the safe transportation of such cargo and that the trucks undergo daily inspections before they are used. If so much as a taillight is out on a truck, that truck cannot be used for transport.
He also stresses that everything that is done by Quantico that may produce intermittent noise (it is not a constant problem) is necessary for the protection of the American people, now and in the future.
“There may be a lieutenant who is set to deploy in six months and is preparing for possible combat. In that case, he or she needs to fire a weapon in order to become proficient in its use,” Dankanich said.
As the population of the surrounding area moves even closer to the boundaries of the installation through new development, being a good neighbor will become an even bigger concern for Quantico.

• Date Taken: 03.16.2017
• Date Posted: 03.27.2017 15:51
• Story ID: 228193
• Location: MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, VIRGINIA, US