War games prepare U.S. for future battle: 13,500 troops are training for anything

National Post ^ | 07-25-02 | Peter Goodspeed

[SoCal Pubbie]

As someone who used to work within walking distance of El Toro, I can assure you it was NOT in the desert. (Unless you cansider all of SoCal a desert!) El Toro is right off I-5 and the 133, basically in Irvine 9 (Though not in the city limits).

[SoCal Pubbie]

The place I was thinking of is Fort MacArthur, a U.S. Army post which guarded the Los Angeles harbor from 1914 to 1974.

[reillyoburbank]

From a UPI article re: Stryker Mobile Gun System where this exercise is mentioned. "The eight-wheel vehicle will be the centerpiece of a portion of the Millenium Challenge 2002 exercises, which includes a July 31 assault by paratroopers on a mock airfield at Fort Irwin, deep in the Southern California desert."

Hope this helps you locate the base a little better. The other mid-CA base near Camp Roberts is Hunter Leggit MR. I was stationed there after my tour of duty in Nam. At that time it was a proving ground for various armored and air support weapons.

[CyberAnt]

No, it was further north than that - maybe even north of Santa Barbara - fairly near the coast.

[CyberAnt]

Hmmm? I must be thinking of another base.

[Pining_4_TX]

Does that include Alien Invasion?

Mibs!

[Nuke'm Glowing]

"13,500 Troops Are Training For Anything"

Why don't we try deploying them on our Mexican border to end the war at home a little bit quicker.

[snodog1]

There used to be a base further north - it was used primarily as a training base - the name escapes me. Darn, I must have driven past it a hundred times. It seems to me it was something like Camp Roberts - but that's not it.

North West of Camp Roberts is Fort Hunter-Ligget. About halfway between Paso Robles and King City off of the 101. Mostly deactivated now, it still has a relativly active live fire mission with the Guard and Reserves.

[CyberAnt]

Actually, Camp Roberts was what I was thinking of - I just wasn't sure the name was correct. Camp Roberts was a beehive of activity during the Korean war, when my family and I traveled Hwy 101 to Southern California from the San Francisco bay area. In the late eighties, when I drove to San Jose from San Diego, the whole place was a rundown looking mess. It was kind of sad.

[snodog1]

...the whole place was a rundown looking mess. It was kind of sad.

I know what you mean. Everytime I passed by, I would always look at the chapels, spaced through out the barracks, about ten barracks to one chaple, and wonder how many vets had passed through those doors, only to go and die on battle fields in foreign lands, fighting for others freedom.

[SevenDaysInMay]

Sounds like Iran.

[CyberAnt]

The chapels, yeah I remember that. During those years, my dad would always stop and give a soldier a ride. Several times they were headed back to Camp Roberts. A couple of times we got to take them onto the base. It was very cool to a young girl.

[Ligeia]

The article was already posted here with a different title, so I asked for mine to be pulled.