Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range
Part of Bob Stump Training Range Complex
Imperial County and Riverside County, California in the United States
A CH-53E Super Stallion of the US Marine Corps prepares to lift a M777 Howitzer at Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range during 2014
CMAGR is located in the United States
CMAGR
CMAGR
Location in the United States
CMAGR is located in California
CMAGR
CMAGR
CMAGR (California)
Coordinates33°18′0″N 115°18′0″W / 33.30000°N 115.30000°W / 33.30000; -115.30000
TypeBombing range
Area459,000 acres (186,000 hectares)
Site information
OwnerDepartment of Defense
OperatorUS Marine Corps
Controlled byMarine Corps Air Station Yuma
ConditionOperational
Site history
In use1940s – present
DesignationsChuckwalla Desert Wildlife Management Area

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

Range description

Map of the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range

The range is a 459,000 acres (1,860 km2)[1] open-area, approximately 20 miles wide, east to west, and 50 miles long, northwest to southeast, with a special-use airspace of 700 square miles (1,800 km2)[1] which is used for aerial bombing and live fire aerial gunnery practice. It straddles the northern portion of the Chocolate Mountains to the east of the Salton Sea in Imperial and Riverside Counties, California, with restricted airspace in both California and Arizona. It is under the jurisdiction of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps, and is closed to the public.

Range operations

The United States Department of Defense aviation combat crews have trained at the CMAGR and within its airspace since World War II.[1] The range is managed by Marine Corps Air Station Yuma.[1] The CMAGR range area was permanently transferred to the Department of the Navy in 2014 to be used as a military range.[1] The CMAGR provides opportunities for military training by use of its varied terrain and special-use airspace.[1] The CMAGR is the centerpiece of the Bob Stump Training Range Complex and can support multiple training operations concurrently.[1] 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.[1] 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.[1] The Naval Special Warfare Command also use a portion of the CMAGR for desert warfare training.[1]

The Bradshaw Trail, an old stage road and now a four wheel drive vehicle road, traverses the north boundary of the Gunnery Range between the Chocolate Mountains and the Orocopia Mountains and Chuckwalla Mountains to the north.[2]

The Navy and Marine Corps jointly prepared and published a "Geologic Map and Database of the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range" in 2018.[3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 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. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ↑ California Atlas & Gazeteer, DeLorme, 4th ed., 2015, p. 152-3 ISBN 0899333834
  3. ↑ Open-File Report 2018-1191
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