GAO: Military Training Ranges Need Upgrades ("jeopardizes safety")

[rainbow4321]

http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=1047307


Many U.S. military training ranges are deteriorating, providing troops a less-effective training experience and in some cases endangering them, says a report from Congress' investigative arm.

The Government Accountability Office says many training ranges have suffered from a lack of maintenance and modernization

In its report, the GAO says "military training ranges are in varying degrees of degradation or lack necessary upgrades to meet current training needs, a condition that, in turn, adversely affects training activities and jeopardizes the safety of the military personnel using them."

For example, at Fort Hood, Texas, home to tens of thousands of soldiers, GAO investigators found degraded tank trails, too few sniper and machine gun ranges, and a training area for urban operations that is geared for preparing soldiers to fight in the narrow streets of Eastern Europe rather than the walls and courtyards of Middle Eastern cities. At the Navy's Southern California Offshore Range, a malfunctioning communications system has rendered much of the range useless for submarines.

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The report(pdf):

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05534.pdf

[Joey Liberal]

1. I don't believe it

The Army has been upgrading its training areas for years. The problem at Ft. Hood is that there are way too many troops there. If the Army really needs to upgrade its training ranges, why did they recently blow 35 million bucks on black berets?

[rainbow4321]

2. That is why it is yet another "Friday night dump" report

Why do they keep asking for more money when they obviously are not using the $$ they have where it is most needed---the report will no doubt be drowned out by the Jackson trial, the girl missing in Aruba, another taser injury/death, etc.

If the Dems had a backbone, they'd be splashing this all over the news come Monday morning, if the media actually were doing their JOB, they would be asking shrub about this with his next fake news conference!