The loud explosions heard and felt in Harvard sometimes prompt calls to the police and posts on Nextdoor, but new residents quickly learn that the town is not under attack. Far from it, the sounds are coming from Fort Devens, which is now home to a state-of-the-art military training facility across the Nashua River from the Still River area of Harvard.
When Fort Devens closed as an Army active duty installation in 1996, the Department of Defense retained about 5,000 acres made up of a portion of the Main Post and the entire South Post. Training takes place on the South Post, and reservists are housed in barracks on the Main Post just south of the hotels located off Jackson Road.
Funded by the Army Reserve, more than 140,000 service members, mostly from the Army and the National Guard, use the facility annually. The training area includes 26 firing ranges, 24 tactical training areas, 13 classrooms with 700 computers, and barracks with 1,500 beds. Reservists using the facility have a wide variety of specialties, including infantry, transportation, maintenance, engineering, medical, military intelligence, and military police.
The commander of the facility, Lt. Col. Charlette Woodard, said in an interview that the training center’s goal is to enable operational readiness of military reserve units. An Army soldier may enlist for eight years, she said, serving two years on active duty and six years in the Reserve. While in the Reserve, personnel are expected to maintain proficiency in their duties and to train with state-of-the-art equipment and techniques. Woodard added that the breadth of training available at the facility—everything from online courses to a sniper qualification course—allows the facility to be a “one-stop training shop.”
Urban battles and robots
The 24 training areas include a 3-acre mock-up urban desert village, which allows units to train in today’s battlefield conditions. Training areas such as this are constantly evolving, according to Steven Hood, deputy to the commander, who said that the Devens site is very different from the urban operation site he trained on years ago as a reservist.
The majority of the firing ranges at Fort Devens are in two areas near Still River. The impact zone lies to the west of these areas. (Source: www.devens.army.mil) CLICK MAP TO ENLARGE
Practice includes use of automated thermal targets for nighttime combat training, as well as a remote-controlled mobile target robot. The robot can operate over various terrains, and its quick acceleration and steering controls offer a degree of unpredictability in training exercises, making it a more realistic target. The various target ranges support small arms, machine guns, anti-tank guns, shoulder-launched rocket guns, mortars, and hand grenades.
With 4,800 acres, the training facility is large enough to support areas where platoons can bivouac and practice going out on patrol. There is a drop zone for helicopter and other airdrop training. There are courses in vehicle maintenance, POL (petroleum, oils, and lubricants), and convoy operation. Woodard said the military vehicles that local residents see on the roads are taking part in test drives.
Both Woodard and Hood said they have a lot of respect for reservists. Most are required to train one weekend a month and for 14 consecutive days once a year. “We call them ‘twice the citizen,’” said Woodard. “During the week they might be a nurse or an engineer, but on weekends they serve their country.”
Things that go ‘bump’ on the weekend
Woodard and Hood said they are well aware that Harvard residents hear the sounds of gunfire and explosions coming from the facility. Woodard said that most training exercises take place on weekends, and the hours and event descriptions are posted in monthly noise reports on the Fort Devens website at www.devens.army.mil. The loudest explosions that residents hear come from mortar fire, which is described in the noise report as “light demolition.” Some noise from hand grenades or machine-gun fire can also be heard in Harvard, especially if weather conditions are right. The sounds from the range travel farther on cloudy days, according to Hood, and the direction of the wind can also make a difference. The last use of the firing range in November is scheduled for November 29 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Woodard said the facility is currently looking for a public relations officer. When one is hired, Woodard said, she hopes to start tours of the facility to let community members and the press see parts of the training facility firsthand. Woodard and Hood are also planning events to celebrate Fort Devens’ 100-year anniversary next year. Hood said the Devens facility “would like neighboring communities to be proud of what takes place here. Their support is critical to our success, and we appreciate it.”
