-Caveat Lector- The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 18, 1999 Army uses Chester sites for training Troops came in with explosives. The public-housing units are vacant. Neighbors, officials were shocked. By Dan Hardy INQUIRER SUBURBAN STAFF CHESTER -- Acting under the cloak of darkness, 100 Army Special Operations troops descended on two vacant public-housing complexes in three training exercises that terrified nearby residents and surprised even the housing director. "It was just a special-operations training in an urban environment, practicing how they would look at a target building and how they would attack it," Army Special Operations spokesman Walter Sokalski said. He said the troops, based at Fort Bragg, N.C., used special-training ammunition that disintegrates on contact and small explosives designed to blow in doors. He said Chester residents "were at no time at risk" during the operations, which were carried out on Wednesday night at McCaffery Village in the West End and on Saturday and Sunday nights in Lamokin Village near the Commodore Barry Bridge. Both complexes are slated to be demolished and rebuilt. Residents of the areas around the two projects, some of whom were notified hours beforehand of a "law-enforcement training exercise," said they found the experience startling and intimidating. "There was a whole lot of noise, like bombs exploding and people shooting off automatic weapons," said Manuel Cooper, who lives across Highland Avenue from the McCaffery training site. "I saw people running in and out of buildings with pistols in their hands like they were really after somebody. It really had the kids scared; I would have thought they could have picked a better place." Michael Lundy, executive director of the Chester Housing Authority, said he was told a month ago that the military was considering a training operation. He said he could not agree with it "right on the spot" because he was concerned about the negative image of Army troops with weapons in a public-housing area. He said the Army never called back, and "the first time I heard about it after that was after it had already happened." Sokalski said there was little advance notification because "we have to protect what we call our tactics, techniques and procedures. If any future foreign enemy knows what we do, how we do it and the way we go about doing it, the things we have learned and trained upon are of no value. We have wasted our time." The more than 20 other urban counterterrorism exercises by the Army across the country since 1994 have provoked similar reactions. In March 1997, the City of Charlotte, N.C., evicted the Army after the first night of a would-be three-night stand after public outcry. Likewise, the Army cut short its stays in Houston and Pittsburgh when its activities, which typically involve fatigue-clad soldiers bearing arms and setting off minor charges, prompted fears. Most Special Operations training is conducted at military facilities, Sokalski said. Exercises like the one in Chester are "a means for a commander to test his [troops'] training in other environments. . . . If you want the best soldiers on your side, then they have to be well-trained by repetition and by doing it in different environments." Residents a few blocks away from the McCaffery Village training site were not told about the exercise. "I heard a loud noise like an explosion," said Elmira Green, who lives about two blocks from the staging area. "About three minutes later, there was another one and the sound of shooting. I was terrified." Chester was picked for the operation, Sokalski said, partly because there was a high degree of cooperation from local officials. "We contacted the mayor, the police, the fire department and the [ Chester Housing Authority ] director of technical services," he said. "They said, 'We have the authority to sign the paper' [authorizing the training]. We don't contradict these folks by going and checking with other people. We had what we thought were all the correct blocks checked." But Lundy, who oversees the Housing Authority, said he did not know about it. His public-safety director, Joseph Anthony, had been called at the last minute and told to help out. "He was given the impression that I knew about the operation and had sanctioned it," Lundy said. "That was not the case." Mayor Dominic F. Pileggi did not return repeated calls for comment yesterday. Police Commissioner Wendell N. Butler Jr. said: " [ Army Special Operations Command officials] gave me their credentials and said they wanted to use a federal housing site. I didn't get the impression that if I said no, they couldn't do it." Butler said he urged the Army representatives to get in touch with Lundy. "I certainly gave them his name," he said. "I thought they were on the same page." Yesterday, State Rep. Thaddeus Kirkland (D., Delaware), who represents Chester, decried the operation: "I think it's totally wrong. You don't hold Army covert operations in a residential setting. . . . I don't see them doing this in any other neighborhoods or communities. It seems like if it's Chester, they just do what they want to do. . . . What did we get out of this, except for a bunch of frightened people and a lot of confusion?" © 1998 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc. nd ! DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. 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