The Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range (CMAGR) is a bombing range operated by the US Marine Corps located in southern California. United States.

Range description

USGS Map-Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range

The range is a Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range: California
The Western Regional Partnership, Military Asset List 2016, U.S. Marine Corps, dated 2016, last accessed 12 July 2020. open-area, approximately 20 miles wide, east to west, and 50 miles long, northwest to southeast, with a special use airspace of which is used for aerial

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the Exothermic process, exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-t ...

ing and live fire aerial

gun A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, p ...

nery practice. It straddles the northern portion of the

Chocolate Mountains The Chocolate Mountains of California are located in Imperial County, California, Imperial and Riverside County, California, Riverside counties in the Colorado Desert of Southern California. The mountains stretch more than 60 miles (100 km) ...

to the east of the

Salton Sea The Salton Sea is a shallow, landlocked, highly saline body of water in Riverside and Imperial counties at the southern end of the U.S. state of California. It lies on the San Andreas Fault within the Salton Trough that stretches to the Gulf o ...

Imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texa ...

and Riverside Counties,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, with restricted airspace in both California and

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. It is under the jurisdiction of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

and

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

, and is closed to the public.

Range operations

The

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...

aviation combat crews have trained at the CMAGR and within its airspace since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The range is managed by

Marine Corps Air Station Yuma Marine Corps Air Station Yuma or MCAS Yuma is a United States Marine Corps air station. It is the home of multiple squadrons of F-35B Lightning IIs of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1 (MAWTS-1), Mari ...

. The CMAGR range area was permanently transferred to the Department of the Navy in 2014 to be used as a military range. The CMAGR provides opportunities for military training by use of its varied terrain and special use airspace. The CMAGR is the centerpiece of the Bob Stump Training Range Complex and can support multiple training operations concurrently. The CMAGR's live-fire aviation training ranges provide training for air combat maneuvering and tactics; air-to-air gunnery; airborne laser system operations; close air support; and air-to-ground bombing, strafing, and rocketry. The CMAGR also supports ground training to include air defense, air control, communications, demolition operations, as well as the support of small arms and artillery. The

Naval Special Warfare Command The United States Naval Special Warfare Command (USNSWC), also known as (NAVSPECWARCOM and WARCOM), is the naval component of United States Special Operations Command, the unified command responsible for overseeing and conducting the nation's ...

also use a portion of the CMAGR for desert warfare training. The

Bradshaw Trail Today's Bradshaw Trail is a historic overland stage route in the western Colorado Desert of Southern California. It is a remnant of the much longer Bradshaw Road, also known as the Road to La Paz, or Gold Road, established in 1862 by William D. ...

, an old stage road and now a

four wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

vehicle road, traverses the north boundary of the Gunnery Range between the Chocolate Mountains and the

Orocopia Mountains The Orocopia Mountains are located in Riverside County in southern California, United States, east of the Coachella Valley, west of the Chuckwalla Mountains, and south of Interstate 10 in the Colorado Desert. The range lies in an east-west dire ...

and

Chuckwalla Mountains The Chuckwalla Mountains are a mountain range in the transition zone between the Colorado Desert—Sonoran Desert and the Mojave Desert, climatically and vegetationally, in Riverside County of southern California. Geography The range spans abou ...

to the north. The Navy and Marine Corps jointly prepared and published a "Geologic Map and Database of the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range" in 2018.Open-File Report 2018-1191
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Gallery

File:S-2E Tracker of VS-37 in flight in June 1970.jpg, U.S. Navy S-2E Tracker from Anti-Submarine Squadron 37 carrying a four-rocket pod of Zuni 127 mm Folding-Fin Aircraft Rockets below its port wing over the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range (1970) File:F-8J Crusaders of VFP-63 drop bombs at Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range 1972.jpg, U.S. Navy F-8J Crusaders drop bombs at Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range (1972) File:USMC-091018-M-8331Z-004.jpg, A fire team from the 2nd Marine Regiment advance toward their downed targets, wrapping up a live-fire ambush and reaction drill at Camp Billy Machen Desert Warfare Training Facility, Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range (2009) File:USMC-090915-M-6497H-001.jpg,

Marine Wing Support Squadron 374 Marine Wing Support Squadron 374 (MWSS 374) was an aviation ground support unit of the United States Marine Corps. They were based out of Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California. The squadron was part of Marine Wing Su ...

heavy equipment operators remove dirt from and level an unmanned aircraft system runway at the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range (2009) File:USMC-100929-M-8964D-001.jpg, Test services maintenance crewman weld the support brace of a fake radar dish on the top of a target shaped like a radar van at the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range (2010) File:USMC-110124-M-4669D-002.jpg, Steel targets simulating Afghan insurgents stand at the Al Brutus training complex within target area 15 North in the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range (2011) File:CHOCOLATE MOUNTAIN AERIAL GUNNERY RANGE, Calif 131001-M-CC151-295.jpg, Marines supporting Weapons and Tactics Instructors (WTI) Course 1-14, participate in a

CH-53E Super Stallion The Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion is a heavy-lift helicopter operated by the United States military. As the Sikorsky S-80, it was developed from the CH-53 Sea Stallion, mainly by adding a third engine, adding a seventh blade to the main rotor, ...

sling loading exercise at Landing Zone Bull on the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range (2013) File:I Spy (8658968782).jpg, A field radio operator with

9th Communications Battalion 9th Communication Battalion (9th Comm) is a communications battalion in the United States Marine Corps. It is part of the I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF) and is headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. Subordinate unit ...

, participating in WTI 2-13, uses a laser target designator at the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range (2013) File:AH-1Z Vipers conduct aerial gunnery-Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range.ogv, Marines practicing air assault support tactics at the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range (2019)

References

External links

Profile
on GlobalSecurity.org
Final Legislative Environmental Impact Statement for the Renewal of the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range Land Withdrawal
Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest * {{Authority control Installations of the United States Navy in California Geography of Imperial County, California Military in Riverside County, California