Legislators take shots

Several Tennessee legislators faced bitter cold -- and some criticism -- to visit the shooting range at Arnold Air Force base Tuesday afternoon. The visit, an annual event coordinated by Rep. Judd Matheny (R-Tullahoma), gives the lawmakers a chance to see the purpose of the range and hear about its implications, as well as tour and learn more about the University of Tennessee Space Institute. They get to try out some the weapons, shooting at targets in the field, or in the simulator.

It also took some of them away from legislative business.

"I think it's worth coming down here to see this," said Rep. Pat Marsh, making his first trip to the range. "It's part of what we're supposed to do, to see what is going on."

Marsh said he was only missing a transportation committee meeting and that the few items of business on that agenda had been postponed to a future meeting.

The field trip started about four years ago, when the base was being considered for a proposed Combat Battlefield Airmen Training program, or CBAT.

"We wanted to keep the local profile very high," said Matheny.

The shooting range is far more than a few targets in a field -- it also includes "houses," simulations of the types of homes found Afghanistan or Iraq and is used to help troops learn how to fight in similar situations. There are several firing ranges, allowing the use of many types of weaponry, from short to long range, everything from automatic rifles to grenade launchers.

The range is not exclusive to the Air Force, but is jointly operated with the Tennessee Army National Guard. That partnership is an important learning point Steve Cope, chairman of the UTSI Support Council and member of the Arnold Community Council, wanted to stress.

"It shows you how a state and federal facility can be used together, leveraged for the benefit of the nation," he said.

Matheny pointed out that the event also gave the legislators a glimpse at what the life of a soldier was like and would build support.

There had also been some criticism of the event because of a possible conflict of interest. A listed private sponsor of the trip, Ronnie Barrett of Barrett Manufacturing in Christiana is involved with an issue being consider in the legislature right now involving an easement request for his property along I-24. Sen. Jim Tracy voted for the amendment in the senate transportation committee, but he did not attend the trip Tuesday.

Most of the legislature and their entourages of spouses and aides seemed less than concerned about the presence of the media, even the television vans from Nashville.

"Must be a slow news day," one was overheard saying.