Nebraska's Senator Ben Nelson
  Press Release October 19, 2006

NELSON: NATIONAL GUARD TRAINING SITE UPGRADES BENEFIT NEBRASKA’S SOLDIERS

Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson today accompanied National Guard Adjutant General Roger Lempke on a tour of the Nebraska National Guard’s Greenlief Training Site at Hastings to view recently completed upgrades.

“This is a major overhaul that brings the training site and firing ranges in line with other states,” said Nelson. “It’s a real benefit to Nebraska National Guard members statewide because it means they no longer have to travel out of Nebraska to be certified when their unit is activated.”

Nelson, who secured $1.5 million in federal funds for the upgrade, toured the facility in 2004 with General Lempke before the renovation began.

The project includes a new 16 lane M16 Modified Fire Range with remote target systems for qualification and practice engaging targets in a simulated combat environment.

It is the only such range in Nebraska and will support Army National Guard personnel who live within a three hour travel distance which includes Lincoln and Omaha. It will also support members of other organizations including Army, Marine and Navy Reserves.

Before the facility was upgraded, Guard personnel trained at the site but when a unit was activated by the Army for service in Iraq or elsewhere, they had to travel to Ft. Riley, Kansas or other facilities to be certified.

“With this upgrade, the Army will accept their certification on the Greenlief firing range and there will be no need to be certified elsewhere which not only saves tax dollars but means guard members spend less time away from their families,” said Nelson.

The 3,211 acre Hastings Training Site has served as Nebraska’s primary range and armor training site since 1966. The Nebraska National Guard spends $100,000 a year for the live-fire range which includes costs for ammunition, gun maintenance and troop transportation.

It is named after the late Lt. General Francis S. Greenlief who was a National Guard bureau chief and World War II veteran who was born in Hastings in 1921 and died in 1999.


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