Integrated Training Area Management

CEMML’s Integrated Training Area Management (ITAM) expertise includes:

  • Training Requirements Integration (TRI)
  • Land Rehabilitation and Maintenance (LRAM)
  • Range and Training Land Assessments (RTLA)
  • Sustainable Range Awareness (SRA)
  • Geographic Information Systems (GIS) support.

CEMML currently manages ITAM projects at:

  • Fort Polk, Louisiana
  • Fort Stewart, Georgia
  • Fort Hunter Liggett, California
  • Fort McCoy, Wisconsin
  • Fort Wainwright, Alaska
  • Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson, Alaska
  • Army National Guard installations.
  • Additionally, CEMML staff provide ITAM technical support to Army Headquarters and National Guard Bureau offices.

Training Requirements Integration

Successful training area management hinges on the ability to integrate land management objectives that support Army training missions with strategies to conserve natural and cultural resources and meet environmental compliance requirements. CEMML’s TRI support to the Army helps to ensure compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act and other environmental laws, in order to avoid restrictions to training.

Land Rehabilitation and Maintenance

CEMML is proficient in developing, coordinating, and executing sustainability strategies that address training missions determined by Programs of Instruction (POIs), Mission Essential Tasks Lists (METLs), and Senior Commander Guidance. CEMML-managed LRAM projects stabilize soils and manage vegetation to maintain, repair, and reconfigure areas that support Army training and testing missions. Reconfiguration projects include development of artillery firing points, mortar firing points, helicopter landing zones, tactical use movement and maneuver trails, bivouac sites, observation points, land navigation courses, and amphibious launch sites. CEMML is experienced in LRAM mitigation and compliance practices such as installing EPA- or state-approved best management practices (BMPs) in support of the Clean Water Act, creating buffer zones for wetlands and plant and animal species of concern, and designing and installing protective caps for archaeological site mitigation consistent with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.

land rehabilitation maintenance
CEMML Land Rehabilitation and Maintenance team repairing maneuver area gullies at Fort Polk, Louisiana.
land rehabilitation maintenance
The CEMML Range and Training Land Assessment team at Fort Wainwright, Alaska identified landscape conditions that facilitate tactical engagement training scenarios. The Land Rehabilitation and Maintenance team reconfigured the area to better support mission requirements and then stabilized soils for long-term sustainability.

LRAM Archaeological Site Mitigation Research-Site Capping Project

CEMML is investigating different methods of providing the most cost-effective site capping. Recent research at Fort Wainwright, Alaska focused on stone tool production debris and other prehistoric cultural resources at sites that were occupied by native Alaskans.

More About CEMML's Site Capping Research

Range and Training Land Assessments

CEMML responds to programmatic shifts in the ITAM program in its delivery of RTLA services to the Army. For example, CEMML identifies needs for LRAM projects, recommends how to execute LRAM on the basis of environmental conditions, and monitors whether LRAM projects are successful. CEMML also identifies landscape conditions that meet the training requirements of Mission Essential Tasks Lists, Programs of Instruction, and mission commanders. This requires understanding vegetation resilience to wheeled and tracked maneuver exercises, the cover and concealment requirements of training missions, and, to minimize erosion, the soil attributes that best withstand maneuver training. We evaluate basal area, canopy cover, and midstory and understory vegetation, and identify land management strategies for LRAM projects or treatments. Training Circular 25-1, which identifies landscape conditions that support different training missions, guides our RTLAs.

A CEMML Range and Training Lands Assessment team is assessing landscape conditions to support development of a new maneuver corridor at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson, Alaska.
A CEMML Range and Training Lands Assessment team is assessing landscape conditions to support development of a new maneuver corridor at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson, Alaska.
The CEMML Range and Training Lands Assessment and Land Rehabilitation and Maintenance teams work closely with installation Range Management offices to ensure that land management projects meet the requirements of training missions.

Sustainable Range Awareness

CEMML produces natural and cultural resources awareness and outreach materials for military installations. CEMML cooperates with the Department of Army’s executive agent for ITAM program administration and execution, Training and Doctrine Command Capability Manager (TCM) Ranges, to supply SRA materials such as customized graphics, brochures, wall calendars, and field cards for soldiers to SRP supported training sites. We recently developed archaeological awareness materials for soldiers serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Egypt.

Geographic Information Systems

GIS is an essential tool in the ITAM and Training Support System community for decision making, planning, and management. CEMML has expertise in spatial database management, analysis, cartography, custom programming, and remote sensing. Projects include development of military installation maps; mapping of LRAM projects; and GIS support for range operations, range modernization, and training missions. Visit our GIS and Spatial IT page for additional information.