FORT KNOX, Ky. (WDRB) -- Fort Knox is about to take its training up a notch by reopening one of its ranges, and that means people around the area may hear some booms.
Yano Range, which has been at the post since 1948, closed in 2018. But after the addition of a multimillion-dollar range tower, the range will reopen later this spring.
And that's big news for Keri True, who has lived in Meade County for the past decade. She comes from a military family and actually welcomes the loud noise.
"We hear a lot of big booms when they're practicing," she said Friday. "Without them, we wouldn't be here ..."
True's face lit up with a smile when she learned about Yano Range's $56 million dollar upgrade, which built a new range tower, added technology and expanded the range to 3,600 acres.
"I'm actually really excited," she said. "When I first moved here, it was very active."
The 400-target range now has six cameras and active sensors. Target systems are now directly connected with computers in the two-floor tower, allowing integrated air and ground unit training and more advanced performance feedback.
Rodney Manson, range operations manager at Fort Knox and Fort Knox Garrison Commander Col. Christopher Ricci. March 8, 2024. (WDRB Photo)
"As a former soldier, I never had anything like this to train on," said Rodney Manson, range operations manager at Fort Knox. And so I'm excited to see it as well. ... We didn't have that type of feedback when I was there. You just had a guy to talk to you, and he might have seen something (or) he might not have seen something. And you just kind of rolled with it. But now, the way this technology is and the instrumentation that we'll have inside these vehicles, we can actually see the entire tank crew and what they're doing."
Fort Knox covers more than 108,000 acres. Of that, 101,000 acres make up the training area. Fort Knox Garrison Commander Col. Christopher Ricci called the new "Digital Air Grounds Integration Range" a game-changer.
"It's increasing lethality for the force so it's making us better prepared," Ricci said. "Really proud for central Kentucky to be home of this capability. ... So I think it means everything to us that we can provide this world class service for soldiers, sailors, airmen (and) Marines that come here and prepare for combat."
The upgrade makes Fort Knox home to one of two digital air ground integration ranges for the U.S. Army. The other one is at Fort Bliss, Texas.
"Pretty huge for us here on Fort Knox, getting named to host the second one," Ricci said. "And if you can think of all the important units for the U.S. Army along that eastern seaboard of the United States, they're going to take advantage of this unique capability to train for combat.”
Depending on the weather, Ricci said noise from training could travel about 4-5 miles.
"We run an outreach program and we're not perfect at it, because the weather gets a vote," he said. "But when we know that we're going to have an uptick in training or we expect it to be louder than normal, we reach out to our mission partners outside the installation — whether it's those judge executives, those county elected officials, sheriff's department, police departments, those types — and we put out notices on our Facebook page."
"I’m excited," True said. "I'm ready for it."
The range is set to open in May, and there are already four units scheduled for active training.
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