-Caveat Lector- http://www.thestate.com/headlines/a1docs/aaron_marines13.htm Published Saturday, November 13, 1999, in The State. Storming CCI by sunlight, Marines offer show of force By DAVE MONIZ Staff Writer At 2:55 Friday afternoon, Columbia got a first good look at its marauding Marine Corps guests. From rope ladders and giant helicopters squatting on an old prison yard, about 50 Marines descended onto a building's roof and nearby grounds of the former Central Correctional Institution. Within minutes, the rifle-toting warriors from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit at Camp Lejeune, N.C., were busy "securing" the former jailhouse and "capturing" an extremist group trying to build a bomb. The daylight exercise in the Vista is part of two weeks of urban-warfare training the Marines are conducting in the capital city. From the roof of a nearby parking garage, Marine commanders, a squadron of reporters and a few curious spectators watched the helicopter-borne Marines complete their objective. "Terrific," observed Meta Rose, a Camden resident who watched the maneuvers with her husband, William, from several hundred yards away. The Roses wanted to see firsthand what the Marines are doing in Columbia this week. They came away impressed with the leathernecks' execution of the "hard hit" raid after peering through binoculars at the distant training ground. Friday's scenario was the second conducted by the 24th MEU, which will stage urban-warfare training in Columbia through Thursday. Marine commanders, who had been nearly silent about the exercises until Friday, outlined the 24th MEU's game plan with charts and maps Friday. Master Sgt. David Lynch explained the Marines are staging an ongoing war game set in a fictional Balkan landscape. On Friday, they planned and executed a raid to disarm a bomb made by extremists. Earlier this week, the Marines conducted a nighttime raid of an industrial complex near Carolina Coliseum looking for shadowy nogoodniks. For the Marines' exercises here this month, Lynch said, Columbia will be turned into a potentially hostile area much like Kosovo. Lt. Col. Ron Watson, operations officer with the Special Operations Training Group creating the scenarios, said the Marines try to invent situations that will ready units for upcoming missions. Early next year, the 24th MEU will deploy to the Balkans for six months. "We do this to prepare the MEU for the most likely missions once they are deployed," Watson said. Today, commanders will return to CCI with Marines who took part in the training for a detailed critique of the performance. Watson and his colleagues threw a curve into Friday's exercise, creating a situation where the MEU was required to quickly evacuate a casualty during the exercise. Brig. Gen. Robert Flanagan, commander of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, said the Marines will gain immeasurably from the exercises. "This is one kind of an urban area," he said, pointing to the large brick building once part of the notorious CCI complex. "We're trying to show them all different environments," Flanagan said, pointing toward downtown Columbia, where the whoop-whoop of helicopters and loud bangs from grenades could be heard in the distance. Dave Moniz covers the military in South Carolina and reports on military trends in the Southeast. He can be reached at (803) 771-8462 or by e-mail at [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- ----------------------- NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ----------------------- DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
