PLAYING AT WAR by Jim Herron Zamora San Francisco Examiner, March 14, 1999 "Weird' exercise prepares troops for deployment into urban battlescapes MONTEREY - As a Marine Corps team in battle gear engaged in a mock shootout with mock terrorists Saturday, a group of peace demonstrators noisily beat drums 100 feet away. But both were drowned out by a rowdier bunch decrying U.S. military presence in foreign lands: a unit of out-of-uniform Marines pretending to be protesters started a mock riot, nearly overturning several military vehicles filled with medical supplies. "Go home! Go home! Get the hell out of here! Go back to your own country and kill somebody!" the faux protesters chanted as they circled the Marines. As the Urban Warrior military exercise began in Northern California, it became obvious this is not your classic "Let's shoot the bad guys" mock battle. "Welcome to the Twilight Zone," said Gunnery Sgt. Bill McElfresh, who was chanting slogans against U.S. imperialism into the faces of fellow Marines. "Everything is turned upside down. It's definitely the weirdest thing I've ever seen." Such is the nature of war in an era when places such as Kosovo, Bosnia and Somalia find their way into headlines. The exercise at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, involving 500 Marines and 100-200 personnel from the Army, Navy and foreign forces, attempted to re-create the chaos soldiers can face in peacekeeping missions, anti-terrorism strikes, and humanitarian aid during natural disasters in which civil order has collapsed. The goal of such operations is to develop techniques and strategies "for urban battle spaces of the 21st century." "By the year 2025, 70 percent of the world's population will live in coastal urban environments, and 70 percent of the nations' capitals and 70 percent of nuclear reactors are also located in those kinds of areas," said operation leader Lt. Col. Gary Schenkel. Saturday's event was aimed not just at teaching soldiers but also at showing the public, which was invited to the mock battle, how much more complicated - and bizarre - the military mission can be in the post-Desert Storm era. "I'm completely confused," said Roger Hathaway, a World War II Navy veteran who drove down from San Jose expecting a show. "I expected to see some helicopters and some Marines. But I can't tell who is playing and who is for real." Marines switch roles There was even one group of plain-clothes Marines shouting "Yankee Go Home!" at a group of British Royal Marines in combat gear. "They're the Yankees, and they are telling us "Yankee Go Home!' Kind of strange I guess," said Royal Marine Mark Elliott. "This role-playing has got us all turned around." That was the point, organizers said. "This is reality," said Lt. Col. Jenny Holbert. "It's a whole new way of looking at the military mission. "Battlescapes in the 21st century are going to be like this, confusing, crowded, complicated. On many peacekeeping missions, soldiers encounter civilians who not always are hostile but also not very friendly. There can be factions and different groups with different agendas." Holbert and other officers cited humanitarian missions in Somalia in which riots broke out when soldiers tried to help distribute food. She said Marines need to be able to do their job without antagonizing local residents. Sgt. Milton Montenegro said, in his 10 years as a Marine, "This is the first time I started a riot. ... We train and train about security, but I got to see it from other side." More than combat Montenegro, a San Bruno native, led members of his unit to block a convoy of trucks. He even jumped on the hood of one and forced it to stop. The driver patiently waited until the crowd calmed down a little before driving on. "In the real world, we need to learn that there is a lot more to this than just combat," Montenegro said. "There are all kinds of crazy situations out there that are not part of your traditional military training." Lance Cpl. Adrian Romo said he psyched himself up to be a protester, someone who resented soldiers coming into the nation from another country. "That's right. I would be mad if some other country came over here and did that," said Romo, who wore an S.F. STATE SWEAT SHIRT AND A BLUE BANDANNA DECKED WITH FLOWERS for his role. "As Marines, this forces us to look at things differently." Most of the Marines who were role-players dressed in bulky sweat shirts and baggy jeans. Many students at the Defense Language Institute got into the act. A group learning Arabic were clad in flowing robes and headdresses. They tried their best to distract soldiers in the field. Across a wide field, a second group of students chanted anti-American political slogans in Korean and brandished signs emblazoned "Yankee Go Home" in English and Korean. The soldiers in battle gear were forced to try to locate a biological "weapon of mass destruction" amid the confusion. In addition to demonstrators, they were forced to deal with snipers, car bombs and Molotov cocktails thrown from rooftops. Role of the media Some Marines played the role of TV crews who chased the commandos around with bogus camcorders demanding interviews. But they were outnumbered by news teams doing the real thing. Organizers estimated that more than 100 media representatives attended the mock battle. Many spent the afternoon pursuing soldiers. "The media spotlight is part of the training," said Holbert who, like numerous participants, mentioned the famous night beach landing in Somalia in December 1992 in which U.S. troops were greeted by a blinding swarm of lights from television cameras. "I'm trying to be as obnoxious as I can," said Cpl. Brandon Wong, a Moraga native who was carrying a fake TV camera. "It's my job to cause confusion and make people focus on their jobs." "But look at you guys," Wong said, pointing to three cameramen who surrounded a "wounded" Marine. "That's intense. I'll never be that good at this media thing." The role-playing war game and the chaos it caused were the highlights of the first day of Urban Warrior, which moves to Oakland and Alameda on Monday. About 6,000 Marines and sailors will simulate a series of inner-city and on-the-water battles involving tanks, light armored vehicles, amphibious assault vehicles, artillery pieces and new technologies. The battles are organized by the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory in Quantico, Va. They began in September 1997 and have been split in East and West coast phases. In the Bay Area, the war games have drawn ideological and environmental opposition from officials and peace activists. On Saturday, 50 to 60 opponents showed up. Many of those were there to promote pacifism in general, while some had specific issues with the Urban Warrior events. "I fear that we're training our soldiers to suppress legitimate movements for social change in other countries," said Susan Anderson of Aptos, a member of the Resource Center for Nonviolence. The opponents were far outnumbered by supporters that included many former military and those just curious. "I think some protesters misunderstand us," said Susan Miller, an off-duty soldier who attended the event with a friend. "None of us want a war either. But the bottom line is that I'm willing to die to defend your free right to call me a murderer."
