UXO Site selected: Brooksville Turret Gunnery Range, FL
General Area: Brooksville, FL

Site Type/Program: FUDS

Location: The Brooksville Turret Gunnery Range consisted of approximately 10,200 acres of land situated about 3.5 miles west of Brooksville, FL. Since World War II, some of the former facility property has been subdivided and heavily developed especially in the areas near State Highway 50. The entire site has hundreds, if not thousands of owners, comprising residential and commercial developments, schools, hospitals, and agricultural as well as forested lands.

Brief History: In November 1943, land west of the city of Brooksville FL was acquired by the War Department and was leased for use as a ground turret gunnery range. This was to be a small limited facility under the responsibility of the Brooksville Army Air Field. The range area changed very quickly when the Army and the Air Force came to an agreement to use the reservation for infantry training as well as a turret gunnery training area. Infantry troops came from nearby installations for training in the use of weapons and jungle warfare techniques. Shortly after World War II, Brooksville Army Air Field was declared surplus to the needs of the Army Air Force, but the turret gunnery range facility was retained and transferred to the control of MacDill Field, Tampa , FL. Less than a year later, the range was no longer required for Army Air Force purposes and was turned over to the War Assets Administration for disposition. From 30 June 1946 to 15 November 1946, the leases for the range property were terminated, and the land was returned to the lessors. Since the site closed many ordnance sweeps and clearances have been conducted in the area. These action have recovered numerous practice and High Explosive ordnance items, including 2.36" bazooka rockets, 81 mm mortar rounds, rifle grenades, and miscellaneous ordnance components.
Range / Site Description:

Associated Munitions:

Activities Completed: The Archives Search Report (ASR) was completed by the Corps' Rock Island District in August 1995. A pre-negotiation Site Visit for the EE/CA was held in late February 1997. A Statement of Work was developed, and a Request for Proposal was issued to Parsons Engineering for preparation of an EE/CA and Action Memorandum.

Issues: The Brooksville Turret Gunnery Range has had numerous known incidents of OE encounters since its closure in 1946. The area has had and will most likely continue to have residential and commercial growth. Along with this residential and commercial growth there has been a growth in population and the building of schools. HNC Safety has already updated the RAC sheet from the original ASR RAC sheet to a current RAC sheet. Changing to the newer RAC sheet changed the original ASR RAC from a RAC 2 to a RAC 1. The recommendation for this site is that there be an EE/CA performed on the entire site.

Other Information: EE/CA
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Brooksville Turret Gun Range- Click Map for Larger View
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