Maul of America

The Marines national tour of urban warfare games is more than just a training method--its great public relations, free media coverage and a tool for recruitment.

by Scott Shackford

The United States Marine Corps Super Stunt Spectacular Show will finish its tour in Columbia by the end of this week and will be heading home to prepare for its next trip to Alabama.

Okay, its not actually called a Super Stunt Spectacular Show. Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) from Camp Lejeune in North Carolina have been using sites in Columbia for urban warfare training exercises. Ostensibly, these exercises will prepare the marines for deployment in urban areas overseas in places like Bosnia for peacekeeping missions.

But their media-friendly exercise on Nov. 12 had all the trappings of a good stunt show--an audience, a cool entrance by the participants, and a scripted and bloodless mimicry of real violence presented in a way so that the audience members leave feeling a sense of safety and security. And the singular image the media picked up on to feed the public--marines rappelling out of a helicopter onto the roof of the remaining CCI Prison Industries building--is an image that evokes the patriotism and skill of our military without truly touching on the inherent threat of violence and danger that comes along. Dont be surprised to see these images in future Marine recruiting commercials.

The Marines handled the media as skillfully as they handled the extras playing Serbian terrorists in the exercises. A month ago, the organizers of the exercises came to Columbia City Council to hand out a schedule with a time frame as to when the exercises would be taking place. As part of their training, three high profile invasion-type exercises would happen, along with their other drills. Although council was told the dates the exercises would take place, the actual location of the assaults were kept a secret. Part of the Marines training was to track down these sites. Having them printed in the newspaper would diminish some of the value of the training.

That pretty much left the media out of the loop to cover the big exercises and get really cool photos or video for their outlets. The first assault, by the mills in the Olympia/Granby neighborhoods, came and went before most local media could catch wind.

Then, last Wednesday, Mayor Bob Coble let slip at a council meeting that the media would be invited to the exercise that Friday at the CCI/CanalSide property. The Marines confirmed this with a fax on Thursday and a promise to provide details on Friday morning. The secrecy behind the details, besides preventing the media from letting the details about the event out to the public so that the Marine trainees didnt find out where they were going, created a sense that the media was getting some sort of special treatment here in Columbia--sort of a last minute decision to let the media in to see what these exercises are all about and inform the public of how important these exercises are. None of the information the Marines provided earlier indicated that one of the events would be open to the media.

When asked, however, Brigadier General Robert Flanagan said that they normally open one event to the media at each of the cities they have their exercises in. And the CCI building, besides being in the middle of an empty field (not very urban there), was a great spot for a media set-up. We were all escorted to the top of one of the parking garages overlooking the property where we could get a good view of just about everything, but were far enough away not to be able to hear anything the Marines might be saying during the exercise.

But we did get a really cool briefing where Lt. Colonel Ron Watson described the plot of these little scenarios to us. Columbia momentarily became Serbia, and as Watson explained, a group of terrorists were trying to undermine U.S. forces. He used that term several times without explaining what it meant or how that necessarily indicated illegal behavior. Does a protest against the U.S. intervention count as undermining U.S. forces? Finally he explained that their intelligence had discovered these terrorists were building a bomb. The bomb was being stored in a van at the CCI building (a Budget truck, actually). The Marines were authorized to seize the building and defuse the bomb. That was the purpose of this mission.

The Marines arrived in on helicopters, some doing the widely publicized rappelling. (Theyre lucky they didnt fall through the roof of the old building.) The rest took up positions in the grass. There was no gunfire. There were some booming sounds from explosives being used to blow open doors inside the building--special doors installed by the Marines to avoid damaging the building.

The rest was pretty dull. The media got their cool images and then left. The construction crew next door showed absolutely no interest in the activities. Their shift ended in the middle of the action, and they all got in their cars, parked right at the edge of the exercise area and drove away.

Thats not to say there wasnt excitement in other areas where the Marines were in action. Earlier that week, the helicopters spent one late evening flying up and down Rosewood Avenue and nearby neighborhoods, prompting some calls.

Ted Sbardella, in the Granby neighborhood, was drawn out of bed by the sounds of the helicopters outside his house when he was trying to sleep.

I went outside in my pajamas. This helicopter was hovering outside my house about 200 yards away, he said. They looked like they were pointed at my house. Sbardella, however, didnt know about the Marine exercise at the time and the experience unnerved him.

I had a genuine fear that night, he said. These people could do anything they wanted to us. I dont see why they would, but you know what I mean?

The fears that the U.S. military is being trained to quell domestic problems have inspired occasional protests where the urban exercises are taking place. A handful of anti-violence advocates from the Carolina Peace Resource Center protested against the exercises on Sunday to little response.

These exercises have also proven to be a good recruiting tool for the Marines. Major Grant Bakley handles local recruitment for the Marines here. He said theres been an increased interest in the joining the Marines because of these exercises. In addition to the exercises, the Marines have been flying the helicopters to all the area high schools to show off to the students and answer questions.

Any sort of exposure helps recruitment to the military in general, he said.

The Marines final exercise should be happening this Friday. Flanagan said that the Marines typically wait 18 months before returning to any cities they perform exercises with, but added that hed like to return to Columbia sooner because weve all been so nice and helpful. And hey, they got good publicity and some recruits, so why not?

-- goldbug (goldbug@mint.com), November 19, 1999

Answers

where is this article from,I like to know my sources before qouting worldnet daily like a schmuck.

-- zoobie (zoobiezoob@yahoo.com), November 19, 1999.

Good job, goldbug. I wish some of the (competent segments of the) national press would do a bonafide weekly wrap up of what is going on nationwide with urban military training.

-- (normally@ease.notnow), November 19, 1999.