Best Practices for Mission Applications

Using GIS to enhance Range Safety

—Carlos Hathcock, USMC TECOM - Range Safety Branch

As the institutional authority for range safety in the Marine Corps the range safety and design branch recognizes that Range Control and facility operations are inherently spatial in nature and therefore range activities can be generated and visualized in a GIS. To assist the installation range control users and Marines in creating and managing accurate data the Range Training Area Management division has created the Range Manager's Toolkit (RMTK). The RMTK is a suite of tools that automate many of the tasks associated with safely managing the training activities conducted on military ranges. The tools automate the creation of danger zones, reduce the safety footprint associated with military training and improve the design of training ranges. Use of the RMTK has improved the way ranges are used and planned undoubtedly saving the lives of our Marines.