Mock battle in SoCal and Nevada to test battle technology
By SETH HETTENA Associated Press Writer
Published 3:10 p.m. PDT Thursday, July 18, 2002
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Preparations are underway in Southern California and Nevada for the largest military experiment in U.S. history.
The Millennium Challenge 2002, which begins next week, was mandated by Congress to help U.S. forces prepare for future wars.
About 13,500 troops from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines will use the latest in military hardware in a simulation of what planners believe the battlefield could look like in five years.
Over three weeks, troops will play out a scenario that echoes real-world events involving simulated weapons of mass destruction, urban warfare, the United Nations and humanitarian relief.
The Joint Forces Command, operating in Suffolk, Va., is coordinating the experiments from July 24 through Aug. 15 off the coast of San Diego and at bases in Southern California and Nevada. Top military brass, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the chief of Naval operations, will attend.
The experiments are the fruits of a drive to transform the military from a heavy, mechanized force designed to fight the Soviet Union into mobile, high-tech troops that can deliver swift hammer blows to a different kind of enemy.
"In the Persian Gulf, it took us months and months to stage forces and stockpile logistics," said Tony Billings, a spokesman for Joint Forces Command. "New concepts are designed to cut down on that preparation time dramatically and position U.S. forces so that they're capable of rapidly and decisively striking at the enemy's center of gravity."
Just as remarkable is the fact that all four branches of the military - often riven by intraservice rivalries - are working on the same page.
"It's like you're playing baseball all these years but the infield never worked with the outfield," said Dan Goure of the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va., who specializes in transformation issues. "Now you've got them all in the field trying to go through a couple of innings."
Two years of planning have gone into the experiment to test how the U.S. military can respond to an international incident that can rapidly spin out-of-control into all-out warfare.
"The question for us is how do we bring all our resources to bear to prevent that from occurring," said Cmdr. Jack Hanzlik, spokesman for the Navy's Third Fleet based in Coronado.
The hypothetical scenario begins with a military coup in a country stricken by a massive earthquake. At the same time, a decision by the World Court over disputed territory outrage the coup leaders and prompts a military buildup and a shipping blockade. In response, the United Nations votes to impose sanctions.
As part of the simulation, parts of which are classified, the U.S. Marines and special forces will destroy a hypothetical weapons of mass destruction site at the former George Air Force Base in Victorville. That will be followed by a 96-hour urban combat exercise that shifts Marines between all-out fighting and peacekeeping.
Off-the-shelf technologies will be tested including Dragon Eye, a five-pound unmanned aerial vehicle that troops in the field can use to scout terrain over surrounding hills. The Navy will test a high-speed vessel capable of maximum speeds of 55 miles per hour.
--- On the Net:
http://www.jfcom.mil/about/experiments/mc02.htm
No Soldier, Sailor, or Airman signed-up to do the bidding for the World Court or U.N. See below:
STATUTE Each person enlisting in an armed force shall take the following oath:
''I, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
So help me God!"
I don't See the words UN or World Court anywhere.