Rubber guns and paintball: UK’s ROTC training disturbs Lexington park, citizens say
Days after her husband unexpectedly died in March 2020, Anita Courtney and her children went to Hisle Farm Park in north Lexington to find peace.
Instead, she said, she was met with people clad in camouflage, yelling and holding guns.
“I literally jumped. I had such a shot of adrenaline go through me. I was so startled. I had no idea what it was,” Courtney said.
She had seen the University of Kentucky ROTC program’s tactical training.
The ROTC has an agreement with the Lexington Fayette Urban County Government which allows them to use Hisle Farm Park for tactical training. That agreement expired in January and is up for renegotiation.
At the city council meeting on Thursday, citizens said a public park is not a place for military training and asked the council not to renew the agreement.
“I don’t feel like the parks are an appropriate place for military exercise. I don’t think it’s a good look for the parks. It seems like it would be more appropriate to find another home for these activities,” Courtney said.
“The website states that Parks and Recreation is dedicated to enriching life through parks programs and play,” she said. “I don’t see military training exercises being under that umbrella.”
What does UK ROTC do at Hisle Farm Park?
In an interview with the Herald-Leader, Lt. Col. Alan Overmyer, a professor of military science at UK who is in charge of the ROTC training at Hisle Farm, said the guns the cadets use for training are rubber and don’t discharge any ammunition.
He said the training his cadets do at the park is imperative to their education.
“It’s like chemistry lab. You learn about covalent and ionic bonds, then you do a experiment in chemistry lab,” he said.
“It’s similar to military tactics. If you learn land navigation in class, then we go out to Hisle Farm Park and we can actually practice what they’ve learned.”
Chuck Eddy, a volunteer with Moms Demand Action, a gun violence prevention organization, said having an educated military is imperative, and the ROTC should be able to train their cadets in tactical environments – but not at a public park.
If the ROTC training exercises continue in public parks, Eddy said, that could be triggering to people who have been victims of gun violence.
“I absolutely believe in the importance of a well educated and well trained military. I just believe that this training by UK ROTC should not be in a public park. They need to find a different facility for their very necessary training.”
David Cooper walks his dog at Hisle Farm Park multiple times a week. He noted the growing popularity of the park, used by bird watchers, dog walkers, horse back riders and general nature lovers.
The park is a peaceful jewel in Fayette County, Cooper said, unless the ROTC is there.
“The use of public parks for military training is wholly incompatible with the peaceful use of the park by other Lexington residents,” he said.
“It’s so jarring … It seems very odd to grant the use of a public park for military training. I just don’t understand how that got through the decision making matrix. If we do something that does not enhance the park to the benefit of the public, then it shouldn’t be allowed.”
Overmyer said his class volunteers their time for various city projects as part of the agreement with the city.
He said his students are not “a bunch of mean people running around in camouflage,” they are people who have committed their life to service.
“We’re trying to make these students better versions of themselves, and ultimately improve their leadership attributes and competencies so they can lead the soldiers of tomorrow.”
ROTC fired paintball at public park
According to documents obtained by the Herald-Leader, the ROTC fired paintball guns in the park last April hitting “trees and birds nests.”
Overmyer said the paintball game was an end of the year celebration and he had “toed the redline.” He said the class will not play paintball in the park again.
The new agreement between the city government and UK ROTC explicitly prohibits the use of any projectiles.
“That was a miscommunication between myself and Lexington Fayette County Urban Government which we’ve corrected,” Overmyer said.
“I’m trying to go forward and continue to message out that we’re not being nefarious actors. We’re not trying to vandalize the park or specifically target wildlife.”
He said the group played paintball in the area specifically designated for their training, and that no civilians were present or harmed.
“To an untrained observer, a bunch of kids running around in camouflage, yelling bang, firing paintball – that could be disturbing to some folks,” he said.
“But when you come in and talk to us, we’re all happy to serve Lexington, happy to serve the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and willing to talk to anybody about what we are actually doing here.”
The city council will vote on the agreement at their next meeting on June 12.
This story was originally published May 30, 2025 at 7:47 AM.