A place soldiers in the 2nd Infantry Division become very familiar with during a tour in Korea is the Korea Training Center (KTC).  The KTC is where gunneries for Bradley and tank crews is often held along with live fire exercises for both aerial and rotary wing platforms as well.  The KTC has additional ranges and land for just about any other type of training exercise needed for Second Infantry Division units. 

The range is located only about 16 kilometers northeast of the Second Infantry Division installation of Camp Casey as the crow flies, but due to the rugged terrain of the northern area of South Korea the drive to the KTC takes about an hour to complete from the camp by a military vehicle: 

The KTC is bordered by the small farming community of Yongpyong which is considered part of the larger Pocheon city municipality:  

Driving through Yongpyong no one would have any idea that in the valley just north of town is Korea’s premier range training complex if it wasn’t for the one sign indicating which direction to turn to reach the range.  The small village is totally unlike other villages and cities bordering US military installations because there are no clubs and absolutely no signs of a US military presence in the area due to regulations restricting soldiers from leaving the range complex.

However, just like we have seen with other USFK range locations, the local residents are demanding compensation for having to live next to the range:

Pocheon city officials are asking the South Korean government for millions of dollars worth of funding to make up for the continued presence of U.S. Forces Korea’s largest live-fire range.

Although USFK plans to relocate its northernmost bases south of Seoul by 2012, it will continue to use the 22 ranges within the Rodriguez Range complex in Pocheon.

Kim Hong-jin, chief of Pocheon’s Policy Development Division, said that local residents put up with noise, property damage and disruptions to daily life that call for governmental compensation.  [Stars & Stripes]

As of writing this posting no agreement has been reached on paying any compensation to residents living near the range complex.  I have always found it interesting how it seems that only USFK tanks, bombs, and airplanes seem to make noise while the Korean  militaries munitions and equipment does not.  I wonder why that is? 

Anyway, the range by US Army standards is of average quality, but for troops stationed in South Korea the Korea Training Center is as good as it gets:

The multipurpose range complex (MPRC) at the KTC is primarily used to support Abrams and Bradley gunnery exercises on the main Rodriguez Range (Called Rod Range for short by GIs) as well as on the adjacent Warrior Valley range:

The US armored crews are not the only ones that use the range, the Republic of Korea (ROK) Army units use the range as well:

Having fired Bradley Table VIII gunnery on Rodriguez Range more times then I can remember, I have found it to be one of the most difficult ranges to fire on during the summer months because of vegetation and that obscures the green pop up targets. Guys that fire well on Rod Range earn it.  However, I have also fired on the Warrior Valley range and have found that one to be quite an easy range to fire on thus causing most units to want their crews to fire on Rodriguez Range if possible to get the maximum training value out of the gunnery exercise.

The KTC is also able to support Artillery, Mortar, Close Air Support, and Apache gunneries as well:

The range is a bit unusual to most gunnery ranges in the United States because units literally fire into the side of a mountain:

This view from the control tower gives an even better view of how Rodriguez Range fires into the side of the mountain:

On the other side of the mountain there are actually a number of South Korean villages:

With the threat of civilian damage maintaining range fans is extremely important when firing at the KTC compared to firing at ranges located in the United States.  Watching night fires at the range can be extremely impressive when viewing ricochets hit off the side of the mountain and put on a mini fireworks show:

Here is a good picture that shows the view that Abrams and Bradley fires have towards the large mountain from their firing position:

The range is also used for aerial gunnery from Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters:

The range is also being increasingly used by Stryker units that have been rotating to the peninsula in recent years for training:

The KTC also has a number of small arms and grenade ranges as well for soldiers to train on.  The range is also being increasingly used for convoy live fires by logistical units as well:

Finally the range has been upgraded to include an Military Operations on Urban Terrain (MOUT) range.  This new range was recently used by the US Marines who deployed to South Korea during the recent Key Resolve exercise to teach and train with the Korean military in urban warfare tactics:

Something soldiers stationed in Korea appreciate about the KTC is that the range has a small support area with open bay barracks, showers, a KATUSA snack bar, and even a small pizza shack: 

However, for those of us who have under gone Bradley Table VIII gunnery at Rodriguez Range there is little time to enjoy these facilities because firers spend the vast majority of their time out on the range mostly waiting in line to fire on the range and simply sleep in their vehicles.  However, the soldiers out there to support the gunnery live quite well in one of the best support facilities I have seen at a US gunnery range. 

Overall the Korea Training Center is an adequate facility to keep USFK soldiers properly trained and certified on their respective weapon systems.  The range continues to improve with more technological updates and innovations being installed at the range.  There is probably not a more important training area for USFK in all of Korea then the KTC and it will be interesting to see what the future of the KTC will be if the USFK plans to relocate the 2nd Infantry Division south of Seoul at Camp Humphreys happens.  It would be a long drive to conduct gunnery training from Camp Humphreys to KTC, but it looks like USFK will not have much choice because no plans to build another major gunnery range south of Seoul have been announced.  This means that the Korea Training Center will continue to play a major role in the training of USFK forces now and well into the future.