Tank training for the Oregon Army National Guard just got more efficient.

A 6-mile off-road tank driver training course at Raymond F. Rees Training Center in Umatilla, Ore., was unveiled this month, the service announced in a news release Monday. The new course will allow local National Guard units to conduct essential driver training without traveling hundreds of miles to out-of-state facilities.

“Having this opportunity here in our hometown, in our home armory, to maneuver our vehicles is a great learning opportunity,” said Sgt. 1st Class Eric Gilliland, readiness noncommissioned officer for Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment. “Before, we were having to go to Gowen [Field in Idaho] in order to do any type of maneuvering, which was logistically kind of a nightmare.”

The course — which will allow for day and night operations — will support training for M1A2 SEP v2 Abrams tanks. The ability to train at night will enable crews to train with thermal imaging and night-vision equipment.

“We can do night driving, where we use our thermals and NVGs without lights,” said 1st Sgt. Karl Baum of Bravo Company. “That’s a huge risk factor. ... We have to have a safe place to drive where there is no one else driving because they don’t see us coming.”

The training center was renamed in 2022 to honor retired Maj. Gen. Raymond F. Rees. The facility is home to two tank units based in Hermiston and Ontario that are part of the 3-116th Cavalry Regiment.

The tank trail is part of more than $150 million in improvements spent or planned since the Oregon Army National Guard assumed responsibility for the center in 2017.

National Guard