A NEW military firing range has been officially opened at Garelochhead Training Centre.

Major General Robert Bruce CBE DSO, the army’s commanding officer in Scotland, officially opened the £3 million project following two years of work.

The firing range has been designed to offer a safe training environment for armed forces personnel to provide them with the skills required for operational duties both at home and overseas.

The project saw the existing Garelochhead ranges transformed into two new developments. The first is a grouping and zeroing range and an electronic target range, and the second a single range building complex with classrooms, a targetry store and workshops.

Brigadier Neil Dalton OBE, head of training for the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), said that the opening represents a significant investment by defence to provide the modern facilities required to develop and maintain individual shooting skills.

He said: “These ranges will serve a host of nearby units, as well as those using the neighbouring training area, and are a great further boost to the quality of infrastructure in the Clyde area.”

The delivery of the project was managed by Scotland’s DIO Service Delivery Training team and industry partner Landmarc Support Service. Mackenzie Construction Ltd was responsible for the build phase of the development.

Lt Col Mike Onslow, commander of the DIO service delivery training team in Scotland and Northern Ireland, said: “The benefits offered by these new facilities are legion. They are also the result of five years of hard work, detailed collaboration and numerous opportunities to practise our problem solving abilities.

“The people involved in delivering these ranges and the supporting infrastructure have been superb and suffered the capricious nature of the west coast weather; they have my admiration and thanks.

“We have a complex that is efficient; environmentally future proofed and will provide the required training to all elements of defence based in the close proximity and elsewhere for years to come.”

Kevin Kneeshaw, regional operations manager for Landmarc Support Services in Scotland, added: “We have been able to overcome a number of unique challenges to deliver first class training facilities that are not only sustainable, but will deliver cost savings for our armed forces.”