Organizations team up to protect range from lead pollution

  • Published
  • By Chrissy Zdrakas
  • Warner Robins Air Logistics Center Public Affairs
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFPN) --  A steel-bullet trap will collect several hundred thousand rounds of lead annually at the 78th Security Forces Squadron’s small-arms range here, thanks to two agencies on base.

A cooperative-funding venture between Warner Robins Air Logistics Center’s environmental management directorate and the 78th Civil Engineer Group has ended the practice of firing bullets into dirt banks at the range.

The dirt banks have been replaced by a containment system that traps bullets and filters and collects lead dust. The bullets and lead dust will be reclaimed and sold for scrap through the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office.

The trap received a good reception by range instructors for two reasons: it provides greater environmental protection and it doubles the firing capacity of the range.

Staff Sgt. Bruce Blackwell, combat-arms instructor, said the system will enable the range to expand from 14 firing stations to 28.

Capt. Marco Tassone, the security forces resources and training chief, said the trap is the most technologically advanced bullet trap in the Air Force. He said in addition to its ability to give the range more firing stations, the trap enables servicemembers to fire heavy weapons like the new 240 Bravo, which is replacing the M-60 machine gun.

The base range is a busy place, Sergeant Blackwell said, because it is the site for military training and weapon qualification requirements. He estimated about 3,100 people use the range yearly for training on the M-16A2 rifle; and another 900 people train on the M-9 pistol.

The range was several years in the planning and funding stages, according to Jim Reese, the pollution prevention environmental engineer for the environmental directorate. First, the experts looked at types of bullet traps before selecting the one that would best suit and protect the local environment.

The directorate submitted the trap as a pollution prevention project and received $344,000 from Air Force Materiel Command officials to purchase it. The 78th Civil Engineer Squadron funded the installation for about $130,000.