Florida Marine Corps facility opens indoor range, brings weapons training on-site
The department now controls the schedule for pistol, rifle and shotgun qualifications, low-light drills and other courses of fire, allowing officers to train during the day or at night, regardless of weather.
“Every mission on this installation depends on people who can protect it,” said U.S. Marine Corps Col. David Merles, the facility’s commanding officer. Merles declared the range open, and Marine Corps Police Capt. Jacob Dickerson, the range’s certifying official, then fired a ceremonial first round.
Minutes later, downrange lights cut through a faint haze from pistol fire. Black curtains framed the firing lanes, and the polished gray floor reflected the light. At the firing line, officers aimed at paper targets marked with rows of circles.
“Let’s speed it up a little bit,” said Lt. Joseph Maxfield, the police department’s assistant operations officer, as he led the first fundamentals drill. “Move to the second target over. Stand by.”
“Threat,” he called, cueing officers to fire downrange.
Maxfield coached the officers in grip, stance, trigger control and shooting while moving. Such drills reinforce safe weapons handling and marksmanship for personnel responsible for installation defense and law enforcement.
Before the range opened, the department trained at outdoor ranges operated by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office and, occasionally, the St. Marys Police Department in Georgia. Access depended on those agencies’ schedules, and officers adjusted shifts to conduct low-light drills after dark.
“It’s been a long time coming — a lot of work went into opening this,” Maxfield said. “This is more convenient, and we can do low-light shooting with patrol lights flashing.”
The range also gives Marines assigned to the Security Augmentation Force more flexibility to complete required weapons training while meeting their primary-duty responsibilities. They augment police in protecting the people, infrastructure and operations that support Blount Island Command’s global sustainment mission.
Planning for the range began in November 2022. Marine Corps Installations Command funded construction of the foundation and utility connections. Marine Corps Installations East funded the range’s relocation from Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
The Marine Corps facility later invested nearly $100,000 in repairs and modifications. The range passed required industrial hygiene testing in August. The coordinated effort paired an existing modular range valued at nearly $2 million with the infrastructure and improvements needed to place it into service.
“We are putting the training and tools behind the responsibility we ask our police officers to carry,” Merles said. “A federal police career here means protecting the people and capabilities that allow the Marine Corps to project and sustain combat power around the world.”
Application instructions for anticipated federal police vacancies at the Marine Corps facility are available through [a public notice on USAJobs.gov](https://www.usajobs.gov/job/846888900).
The range opened during National Preparedness Month, following a full-scale force protection exercise and a coordinated response to a simulated worst-case fuel spill at the Marine Corps facility earlier in September. The Marine Corps’ 2026 theme was “Prepare Today. Protect Tomorrow.”
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