JBLM continues HIMARS testing

The Army continued its testing of the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System on Wednesday at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

Four series of tests took place Wednesday, with each test seeing three rockets fired, the same as Tuesday.

A single series of test firings is scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday.

Over the three days, soldiers planned to fire 27 practice rockets from the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS.

The Army is using the test rockets to gauge the noise pollution from their launch. The results will help the military evaluate whether HIMARS exercises that now take place at the Yakima Training Center can be moved closer to home.

While the booms from the base cause concern on the Nisqually Reservation, a number of DuPont residents seemed unaffected.

“I didn’t even know they were doing that,” said Subway employee David Lleras, who works right across from JBLM.

Gwen Cross of DuPont suggested that the concentration of military families might correlate with the indifference to the tests.

“It doesn’t bother those who are military-affiliated,” Cross said, “but we understand that there are harmful effects, and none of us want that.”

The Army said Tuesday that the first day of rocket firings were under its prescribed 130-decibel threshold. Wednesday’s tests were also under the threshold, spokesman Joe Piek said.

Anyone who has complaints about the noise from the HIMARS firing can call the Army hotline at 253-967-0852.

This story was originally published September 28, 2016 at 8:38 PM with the headline "JBLM continues HIMARS testing."