The Crucible of Fires
State of the Art Fires Center Named After Legendary Ranger
By SFC Jorden M. Weir; Chief Public Affairs NCO for the 75th Ranger Regiment
Article published on: january 1st, in Field Artillery 2024 Issue 1
Read Time: < 7 mins
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21236/AD1307139
Above: Ranger Fire Supporters with the 75th Ranger Regiment unveil the sign for the Domeij Fires
Center. After four years of planning, collaboration, design and renovation, the U.S. Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment
cut the ribbon on the Domeij Fires Center on Nov. 2, 2023, marking its grand opening. (U.S. Army photo by SGT
David Soflin)
After four years of planning, collaboration, design and renovation, the U.S. Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment cut the
ribbon on the Domeij Fires Center on Nov. 2, 2023, marking its grand opening.
“Today, we stand on hallowed ground,” said MSG Ian Pletch, the 75th Ranger Regimental Fires Noncommissioned
Officer. “Not just because of the bricks and mortar that shape the structure behind me, but because of the
legacy it represents. We are here to honor a man whose journey was truly the stuff of legends.”
The center is named after SFC Kristoffer Domeij, who served as the Fires Support Noncommissioned Officer for 2nd
Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, when he was killed during combat operations, Oct. 22, 2011, in Afghanistan.
It was his 14th combat deployment.
The Man
Domeij was a fire supporter of legendary proportions within the Ranger Regiment, whose incredible career laid the
groundwork for what would become Ranger Fires Support as it exists today.
“[Domeij] walked amongst us during one of the toughest periods in Ranger history,” said COL J.D. Keirsey,
Commander of the 75th Ranger Regiment. “Back-to-back deployments in the places that others feared to tread. This
was an important time in Ranger history.
“The rest of the joint force was on the ropes,” he said, “and needed Rangers to track down the leaders and
high-level facilitators of the enemy. Kris did it each and every night.”
SFC Robert Reynolds, a forward observer with the 75th Ranger Regiment, who had never met the man in person, told
the story of Domeij with reverence and awe.
“[Domeij] came to Ranger Regiment pre-9/11,” Reynolds said. “In a world where things were changing, capabilities
were being delegated down, he oversaw all of it. He led the way. He was a man who could layer effects and layer
fires in a way that was kind of next level.”
Domeij earned the distinction of becoming one of the first Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) qualified
members in the U.S. Army at the time.
It is a distinction that has rippled across time and left a permanent mark on the Regiment. Now, Ranger Fire
Supporters are required to become JTAC qualified when they become NCO’s.
“Not only are we good Rangers,” said SGT Jack Masterson, a forward observer with the 75th Ranger Regiment, “but
we’re also really good fires guys. It’s not one or the other. They go hand in hand. And [Domeij] was really the
first to show that we can do that.”
Reynolds hammering the breadth of Domeij’s influence on the Ranger Regiment home by bridging the past with the
present.
“We look back at our history,” said Reynolds. “We look at WWII and the Rangers who climbed Point du Hoc on D-Day.
I personally didn’t climb Point du Hoc. You know what I mean? And so, I ask myself: how do I carry forward and
how can I be the guy who climbs Point du Hoc … when MY Point du Hoc comes around?”
“Kris Domeij showed us how,” he said.
The Domeij Fires Center
The Center’s inception began when retired CW3 Gregory Funk, former Fires Officer for the 75th Ranger Regiment,
recognized the need to accelerate its lethal effects capabilities in the special operations forces environment.
“When you look at the training path of fire supporters and special operators that are JTACs, there’s a lot that
goes into it,” Funk said. “If you look at the special operations task force (SOF) Truths, these skills can’t be
easily replicated and mass produced. It’s a unique skill that requires detailed training. It’s not a hobby. It
is a very serious skill set that can either make or break a mission.”
Building on a history, dating back to then Secretary of the Army, GEN Creighton Abrams’ Charter to the Regiment
in 1974, which charged the elite special operations unit to “be better with their hands and weapons than
anyone,” the 75th Ranger Regiment set out to bridge the significant gaps that exist in the Army’s fires
capabilities by building a physical representation of groundbreaking technology coupled with the unmatched
fighting spirit of the Rangers.
“The problem was that getting the actual training reps in relied too heavily on factors outside of the unit’s
control,” said Funk. “Bad weather rolls in, training can’t happen. Aircraft malfunctions, training can’t happen.
Even when things go perfectly, the amount of time between iterations for the lanes to reset means that
individual Fire Supporters and JTACs may only get one or two reps in during the exercise.”
There is a cosmic divide that exists between simply having proficiency in a skill set and having mastery of it
and it’s a divide the Domeij Fires Center aims to close.
Here they will get the reps necessary to gain true mastery of their craft. The center offers a dynamic space
where Ranger and partner forward observers can experience tough battlefield problems and solutions firsthand and
envision applications within their own operations.
“It’s designed for the next generation of fires Rangers and Soldiers,” Masterson said. “I think that it’s
probably honestly going to revolutionize things, not only for forward observers, but also Army JTACs.”
It is a $2.2 million fires training facility, unrivaled in all the Army, that exemplifies cutting-edge fires
technology in both the special operations realm and beyond.
It is a total immersion simulator, able to not only replicate the most complex combat scenarios that a forward
observer could face in the real world, but also to capture real time data that Ranger Forward Observers can use
to gain a profound understanding of their equipment, technology, tactics and perhaps most importantly,
themselves, in order to meet the ever-evolving challenges facing the Army and the nation.
Spanning more than 1,500 square feet, the Domeij Center combines a joint operations center and individual virtual
training simulators to provide the greatest training benefit possible to every fire supporter in Regiment and
beyond. The deliberate inclusion of the latest fires technologies and equipment underlines the 75th Ranger
Regiment’s commitment to continual, realistic and exhausting training as it strives to build and field the best
possible fire supporters in the Army.
The Legacy Lives On
“The infantry owns the last 100 yards of the battlefield, no question,” Reynolds said. “But they’re not going to
get that close without substantial amounts of fire support.”
That, at its core, is what the Domeij Fires Center is all about. Setting the conditions necessary for Rangers to
continue to dominate any mission they are called upon to fight. This center embodies a steadfast commitment to
actively contribute to advancing solutions in the battle space and setting new Army standards.
“This building is the arena,” Pletch said. “This building is the crucible where Ranger Fires professionals are
built. Forged through fire, led by Ranger NCOs who give you the opportunity to fail forward; to get 1% better
every day. This building represents the Ranger spirit of SFC Kristoffer Domeij. His legacy lives on. It is our
turn now to do for others … what he did for us.”
Rangers Lead The Way.


Top: SFC Kristoffer Domeij’s mother, Scoti Domeij, cuts the ceremonial ribbon, held by the 75th
Ranger Regimental Command team, to officially open the Domeij Fires Center on Nov. 2, 2023. The center is named
after SFC Kristoffer Domeij, who served as the Fires Support Noncommissioned Officer for 2nd Battalion, 75th
Ranger Regiment, when he was killed during combat operations, Oct. 22, 2011, in Afghanistan. Below: Members of
the U.S. Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment look at photos decorating the walls and try out the gym of the newly opened
Domeij Fires Center. (U.S. Army photos by SGT David Soflin)
Author
SFC Jorden M. Weir has more than 12 years of Army public affairs experience and has spent the last eight
years working within special operations. He is currently the Chief Public Affairs NCO for the U.S. Army’s
75th Ranger Regiment.