Avon Park Air Force Range offers diverse training, natural resources

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Brigitte N. Brantley
  • 23rd Wing Public Affairs
AVON PARK AIR FORCE RANGE, Fla. --  Whether it's tactical air control party members parachuting onto fields or special operations teams training in the swamps, Avon Park Air Force Range has 106,000 acres dedicated to supporting military training missions.

The range's diverse landscape makes it ideal for training and its location in central Florida also makes it a great place to help conserve both wildlife and the environment.

"The Everglades are only about 60 miles south of us, so we're close enough to directly impact their health," said Lt. Col. Charles MacLaughlin, 23rd Wing Detachment 1 commander. "Although we're not technically a reserve or refuge, we do have wetlands on our property, so we take care of our land.

"We've been entrusted to care for this land and that also allows us to preserve the land for training," he added.

Although the range is technically a detachment of the 23rd WG stationed at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., squadrons from across the country use it to train.

Because the location has been used for training for decades, a lot of care goes into making sure that training done there doesn't negatively impact the environment.

"Ninety percent of the ordnance we use is inert, but the rest is live," said MacLaughlin. "We have around 800 ground wells that we continually monitor for chemicals that might be going into the water system. This is especially important since we're in the Everglades headwaters."

Over the past few years, the range has cleaned up 70 previously contaminated sites. Another important way they care for the land is through prescribed burning.

"We burn about 30,000 acres of the range every year, which imitates a natural burn cycle," said Paul Eversbach, APAFR environmental flight chief. "With all the man-made structures like roads, that wouldn't happen otherwise. Starting it ourselves helps us control it."

Maintaining the land is important because of both the flora and fauna found on the range.

"We're home to more than a dozen federally endangered animals and many plants," said Eversbach, who has worked at the range since 1973. "We have red-cockaded woodpeckers and southern bald eagles. We have plants not previously seen south of Jacksonville and we have tropical plants not found elsewhere in the continental U.S. We have also discovered plants not previously described in science.

"In addition to all our training resources, we have so many natural and cultural resources to offer," he added.

Training on the range is planned in areas where the plants and animals won't be disturbed.

"As a military installation, it's in our best interest to sustain a healthy ecosystem," said Eversbach. "We can sustain a healthy environment while maintain our robust training mission."