Free Republic

Scientists have begun moving the Mojave Desert's flagship species, the desert tortoise, to make room for tank training at the Army's Fort Irwin despite protests by some conservationists. The controversial project, billed as the largest desert tortoise move in California history, involves transferring 770 endangered reptiles from Army land to a dozen public plots overseen by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Fort Irwin has sought to expand its 643,000-acre training site into tortoise territory for two decades. The Army said it needs an extra 131,000 acres to accommodate faster tanks and longer-range weapons used each month to train some...

FT. IRWIN, Calif. — The Army calls it "The Box," a vast battleground in the heart of the inhospitable desert dotted with dusty villages marked up in Arabic graffiti declaring, "Saddam Hussein, the Great Arab." But this desert is the Mojave, not the Iraqi. And it is where Army ground troops come to get a glimpse of future assignments in the Middle East. For years, The Box has been a stage for the Army's elite "opposition force" — soldiers expert at assuming the roles of enemy fighters, be they the Taliban or Iraqi insurgents. Their mission is to toughen new...

Tank crew members (from left) Staff Sgt. Barron VanMeurs, Pfc. Michael Oakes and Pvt. Jason Malcom, all from the Nevada National Guard, survey enemy positions during maneuvers at Fort Irwin, Calif., Saturday. (PVT photo by Mark Waite) From the Tactical Operations Center in a tent atop a hill, staff Sgt. John Watt, from Pahrump, keeps track of tank movements on a grid map. (PVT photo by Mark Waite) PV guardsman becomes 'enemy' as U.S. prepares for war with Iraq" FORT IRWIN, Calif. - Staff Sgt. John Watt of Pahrump listened intently to the radio transmission. "Bravo Element straightline Starling...