Marine Corps Base Quantico -- Marine Corps Installations National Capital Region-Marine Corps Base Quantico is an installation with an important military training mission that involves an active Range Training Area (RTA). The activities which occur at the Quantico RTA, are vital for national security, generate loud noises which may impact local communities outside the installation boundary. Any restrictions or limitations on training (e.g., reducing air and ground combat exercises and explosive ordnance demolition training) would diminish the effectiveness of live fire training and reduce the ability of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) to include ferdeal and cilivian agencies, to protect the interests of the United States and its residents.
Quantico is home to several USMC education and training programs and is where all USMC officers begin their training. The Federal Bureau of Investigation Academy and Crime Laboratory and the Drug Enforcement Agency training facilities are also located within the base boundary. Because of its location, its large training areas, and the multitude of USMC, other federal, state, and local users, Quantico and its RTA complex are in high demand and are valuable national defense assets.
The RTA is used to conduct realistic air and ground combat exercises and explosive ordnance demolition training. The ranges can accommodate all weapons normally found in an infantry battalion, including artillery. When first established in the mid-1940s, the ranges west of Interstate 95 were located in rural, sparsely populated rolling hills above the Potomac River. Since that time, the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area has rapidly expanded, and the region has experienced development of communities along the Potomac and in Stafford County to the south. Today, much of the area surrounding Quantico is developed with residential and commercial land uses. Because residential and commercial spaces are located in proximity to the RTA, it is extremely important to determine potential impacts to those residents and facilities that are located off-base and away from the noise associated with the training which occurs on base. Additionally, it is important to be able to effectively report those potential impacts to local community planners, leaders and the general public.
Noise is a prominent issue in the vicinity of military installations, especially if those installations include ranges and/or aircraft operations. At Quantico, noise can be classified as continuous or impulsive, with continuous noise being defined as a sound that has a gradual onset and duration of greater than a few seconds, such as sound resulting from vehicle traffic or aircraft over-flight. Impulsive noise is defined as sudden noise, with rapid onset and a brief duration. This type of noise would result from firing large caliber weapons and from explosive detonations. This type of noise can be startling to those nearby, as there is little to no warning of the noise event. Quantico is dominated by impulsive noise, primarily due to training activities at the RTA.
Quantico works with the surrounding communities which may be in the sound-generating areas, to suggest ways to reduce the impact of the noise generated by an operating military base.
An example of what can be done to lower the impact of noise on a community:
• Encroachment planning, including partnering with interested stakeholders on restrictive use easements on conservation, open, working lands, etc. to place such lands in a protective status that would preclude their development as noise sensitive land uses. Quantico is an active partner with Virginia and surrounding counties in the Regional Joint Land Use Study (RJLUS).
The base Public Affairs Office strives to keep the community informed of impending noise. Visit the base website at www.quantico.marines.mil/advisories to get information on weekly noise reports and noise impact studies.