Posted on 03/24/2015 8:55:16 PM PDT by Nachum
By Jim Walker, District Leader, Georgia Forest Watch: "Don’t be surprised to encounter Army Rangers in the Cooper Creek area."
I have long been accustomed to seeing soldiers and signs of their activity in the vicinity of Camp Merrill, the Ranger training base in the Etowah watershed, and as far away as Hickory Flat in the Noontootla watershed. They even use the Appalachian Trail. But until this year, to my knowledge, they have never operated as far away from the camp as Cooper Creek.Back in June, Georgia ForestWatch District Leader David Govus came across two soldiers on foot and one in a pickup truck near Bryant Creek, a tributary of Cooper Creek. Talking with them, he learned that they were scouting out potential helicopter landing zones in the area because, as the sergeant said “the colonel wants to step out.”
The first confirmation that this has been accomplished was on a Sunday in early November. While David was leading a hike in the Cooper Creek area, he met six big army trucks. A soldier on foot in the lead was very helpful in squeezing the wide trucks past the hikers’ vehicles on the narrow road.
Then in December, I had an opportunity to observe the whole operation in action. Accompanying a Forest Service employee going out to core some trees and survey a couple of older stands included in the proposed Cooper Creek project, we came upon a blazing fire. Expecting hunters, instead we found six soldiers with two jeeps, two trailers, and a very large canvas tent, maybe 200 square feet. Not wanting to interfere with their operation, we talked with them to make sure that we would not get in their way. No problem, they said. They would be conducting a three-day training exercise, but the bulk of the troops would not be arriving until later. They also told us that these exercises would be happening on a regular basis, and “you can expect to be seeing a lot more of us.”
With the soldiers’ permission, we went on up the ridge to measure the diameters of selected trees and core them to determine their age. About an hour later, I heard two helicopters approaching and could see that they were heading toward a food plot about a mile and a half away. Because of the terrain, I could not see them land, but they were out of sight only briefly before returning the way they came. The helicopters made four or five trips to the same location, and as we passed by their campfire on our way out, the soldiers verified that those were their guys coming in.
In an apparently unrelated incident, I recently happened to be at Wilscot Gap, where the gated road to Brawley Mountain (FS45) begins, when a big pickup truck turned in toward the gate. I thought it must be Forest Service employees and went over to talk with them. But the truck was not a Forest Service one. The driver was not in military uniform, but the passenger who got out to unlock the gate, was. We had a brief, friendly conversation during which he informed me that, “This is a military road.” “No,” I contradicted him, “it’s a Forest Service road.”
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Matt,
Heads up! Looks like more Operation Jade Conditioning.
I got no problem with Rangers seeking out new areas to train on. They shouldn’t get into a rote of training in the same areas for years and years.
Rangers are still the good guys in my opinion..
How far is this from the AQ/ISIS training camp?
!0 years ago while hiking on Fort mountain Georgia me and several friends got off the trials for some more adventurous hiking and 3 soldiers appeared out of nowhere and told us to get back on the trial.
I have also had friends tell me of hearing about similar experiences on Grassy mountain when people have strayed to far from the Jacks river fishing areas.
Local legend is that the Georgia Gold rush was cut short by the California gold rush and there’s a lot more gold in them hills than was previously thought and The US Government is protecting the potential mining interests in the area.
of course that’s always been the lore around Chatsworth, Elijay, & Blue ridge.
They have been using Coopers for years.
We heard them doing insertions this last
winter. From our camp we could look down
on the food plot and it was cool to see
the choppers below us.
This was at night mind you.
They were fast ropeing down, not landing.
It’s up near Blairsville in the mountains. This is the first I’ve heard about this particular foray. They are out in the forest service game management area. As soon as the Copperheads come out they will skeedadle back to base.
Last week I’m ashamed to say The Georgia Guard did a joint urban BS drill with the SC guard over in SC which I was totally furious about.
Its like Posse Comitatus does not exist and the military can do anything they please.
About a year ago the cousin of one of Mr. GG’s friends who lives in I think AZ woke up in the middle of the night and heard a noise. Got his .22 rifle and went outside his mobile home and shined a light on some idiot soldier under his house. The guy was like “don’t shoot I don’t have ammo in my rifle” Anyway the cousin looked around and there were a whole bunch of them crawling around through the mobile home park. Its a miracle some of them didn’t get shot. Its ridiculous.
“I got no problem with Rangers seeking out new areas to train on.”
I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand I support the military but then on the other hand I don’t trust the govt not to encroach on the public. Out on forest service land in the middle of nowhere is not as bad as this urban warfare drill or whatever they call it where they are sneaking around in neighborhoods and knocking on people’s doors. That’s over the line to me.
But note the part where one of the soldiers tells this guy its a “military road” That’s what bothers me. Its so easy for them to co opt territory.
“Mastering the Human Dimension”
Uh huh..
I have a book about hiking in north Georgia that I picked up about 20 years ago that alerts people who may hike in the Cooper Creek WMA that the Rangers use it for training. I have also read accounts of people fishing for brook trout in the creeks up there(and far away from the trails)running into Rangers on training exercises. Some of those Rangers can be like stray dogs-cold, wet, hungry, and lost.
Well, that’s just crazy.
‘Scuse, but you probably meant ‘t r a i l’ - - -
If it was once only, I would let it go. . .
On second thought, hiking can be a trial.
As far back into my boy scouting days and the AT, pre 67-69, and before the Army it was common knowledge the Rangers trained up in them there (their) hills.
‘_______there (their)______________’
Probably ‘thar,’ also - - -
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