Firing range scheduled to close July 1

The 18th Security Forces Combat Arms firing range is scheduled to close July 1 on Kadena Air Base, Japan. The range is closing for renovations, which will bring the building into compliance with standards. Renovations will take approximately a year and a half to two years to complete. During that time, Airmen will take a classroom portion at the facility before heading to the U.S. Marine Corps Camp Hansen firing range in order to shoot and qualify on weapons. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Hailey R. Staker)

Firing range scheduled to close July 1

Published March 26, 2014
By 18th Wing Public Affairs
18th Wing Public Affairs

KADENA AIR BASE, Japan -- The 18th Security Forces Squadron Combat Arms firing range is scheduled to close for renovation July 1 here.

The purpose of the closure is to ensure the building and the firing range meet building and safety standards, and will take approximately a year and a half to two years to complete.

During the closure, Airmen required to qualify on a weapon for either deployment or permanent change of station moves will instead fire at the U.S. Marine Corps Camp Hansen firing range following a Kadena-based classroom instruction earlier in the week.

"We're going to be teaching either Monday to Thursday, or Tuesday to Thursday," said Senior Airman John Parsons, 18th SFS CA instructor. "We'll be teaching a class at the squadron and then Friday, everyone who was taught that week in the class will go to fire."

Parsons said Combat Arms instructors will run drills for the M-4 rifle and M-9 hand gun and anything else that needs to be fired, except for night fire exercises for security forces personnel, who have been waived.

There will also be a schedulers meeting in June to discuss how to schedule Airmen for weapons qualification classes.

For more information, contact the firing range at 634-3191.