Tim's Marine Unit

[Pooge]

Tim is at Camp Atterbury in Indiana for urban warfare training. This article is about an exhibition they are putting on next week. Road trip!

Marine drills will include Hollywood-style effects

By Vic Ryckaert
Posted: June 4, 2008

The Marines have landed, but don't expect any choppers swooping into your neighborhood just yet.
You'll get a warning before that happens.

The 2,300 Marines of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., will be in the area for the next two weeks to train for urban combat at sites such as the old Eastgate Consumer Mall, Brookside Park, Bush Stadium and nearly two dozen other Indianapolis locations.

The Marines said they would warn residents in advance of activity. The unit's commander promised to try to keep noise to a minimum.

The training has been cleared by state, federal and local authorities.

And if you want to see the Marines and their gear up close, the unit will put on a display for the public at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on June 12.

Humvees and light armored vehicles will be on display. Four different Marine helicopters will land in the parking lot, dropping off troops.

An infantry squad will demonstrate patrolling techniques, a Marine sniper will be decked out in camouflage and Marines will show-off their martial arts skills.

A special effects company will create realistic explosions in a mock Middle Eastern village at Camp Atterbury, Marine spokesman 1st Lt. Timothy Patrick said in a written statement.

Arabic-speaking actors have been hired to play villagers and hostile insurgents, Patrick said.

"We will patrol through a mock village, interact with the villagers, determine enemy threats (and) meet with village leaders," Patrick said. "There will also be simulated improvised explosive devices and rocket-propelled grenades on strings providing explosions - all courtesy of the special effects production company."

[Pooge]

COMMANDING OFFICER
26th MARINE EXPEDITIONARY UNIT
CAMP LEJEUNE, NC 28542
June 2, 2008
A letter from the Commanding Officer of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit to the
Indianapolis area and surrounding communities.
By now you may have heard that approximately twenty-three hundred Marines and
Sailors from North Carolina will conduct a training exercise in and around the greater
Indianapolis area beginning early this month. As the commanding officer of that unit, I'd
like to explain to you what we have in mind and why your community is so important to
us.
The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) is the fighting force for the Norfolk-based Iwo
Jima Expeditionary Strike Group, set to deploy later this fall in support of the War On
Terror. Typically, a MEU's mission is to serve as a sea-based quick-reaction force,
ready to respond to any crisis that occurs in its area of operations.
Let me give you an example. Some of you may recall the Marines' advance to
Kandahar, Afghanistan in November 2001. Elements of the 26th MEU left the deck of
the USS Bataan in the Arabian Sea aboard multiple CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters and
attacked 435 miles inland to conquer the last piece of Afghan territory still held by the
Taliban. This was the longest such helicopter assault ever conducted.
Then, shifting to August 2003, the MEU capitalized on its extensive training in the
execution of humanitarian missions to help bring peace to war-torn Liberia following the
exile of its president.
This is what a MEU does. Our job is to deploy to troubled areas of the world and employ
the appropriate level of force or assistance required in order to make that place better.
We may find ourselves in a bitter fight against a determined enemy one week, then
building schools and homes for displaced civilians the next week.
Many of the Marines you will see in the coming few weeks have served in Iraq,
Afghanistan and all over the world. We have plenty of combat experience. But we also
have plenty of new Marines preparing to make their first deployment. Their lives and the
success of our future missions depend on the training we accomplish during our workups
in your community.
Six months prior to deploying, a MEU begins training intensively for more than twenty
separate and distinct missions which it must be ready to execute at any time. We
conduct much of that training at our home base at Camp Lejeune and aboard Navy
ships at sea. But we cannot adequately prepare to operate in an unfamiliar environment
without moving out of our comfort zone and into areas like yours with which we are not
familiar.
Marines are trained to fight in every clime and place. For desert training, we go to
Twentynine Palms, California. For cold-weather and mountain-warfare training, we head
northwest to Bridgeport, California. For jungle-warfare training, we've sent Marines to
Panama, the Philippines, Thailand and Okinawa.
Though an urban area may be a more hospitable place to live, it is nonetheless the
most challenging environment we're likely to face. Maneuvering in a heavily congested
area; picking out possible threats lurking in windows and around street corners; trying to
tell whether the car barreling toward a vehicle checkpoint is driven by a suicide bomber
or an innocent family oblivious to warning signals; these are just a few of the challenges
Marines face in an urban setting.
Our aim in Indianapolis is to expose our Marines to realistic scenarios and stresses
posed by operating in an actual urban community, thereby increasing their proficiency in
built up areas. Operating in your community provides us with conditions we cannot
replicate aboard our home base.
The exercise runs from June 4-19. The entire MEU will be spread among a number of
areas including Indianapolis, Camp Atterbury, Columbus, Butlerville, and even Ft. Knox,
KY. While some of the activity will take place aboard Camp Atterbury, residents in many
areas can expect to see helicopters flying overhead, military vehicles on the roads and
Marines patrolling on foot. Residents living in close proximity to a select few sites will be
notified in advance that Marines will be conducting mock raids nearby.
We have coordinated our plans through the appropriate federal, state, county and city
agencies and officials, including the FBI, the FAA and local police departments. We are
working closely with them to ensure safety and to minimize the impact on you.
We understand that the added noise we'll bring can be a nuisance. We greatly
appreciate your patience and understanding, and we hope you'll bear with us as we
complete this critical training. Finally, we hope that what you observe will make you as
proud as we are to serve on your behalf.
Semper Fidelis,
MARK J. DESENS
Colonel, U.S. Marines

[12 pointer]

cool. I would like to see that.

[C.L.Button]

I'm going. ;)

[Pooge]

You have got to read this crap... It is from an Indy news comment forum. These people crack me up.

http://www.topix.net/forum/source/wish/TL7MOSGP89I6QONBG

[nwest]

Congrats again Pooge you have a raised a young man to be proud of, a big thanks to him and all of our armed forces. We all owe them alot.

[luckydawg]

that sounds cool. i think we may go

[Pugs]

You have got to read this crap... It is from an Indy news comment forum. These people crack me up.

http://www.topix.net/forum/source/wish/TL7MOSGP89I6QONBG


Siggghh, As a former Hoosier I always like to recall it as a land of thoughtful, sane people. Things have changed :rolleyes:

[Pooge]

Here is a news video about what they are doing... Sounds like fun...

http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=8440001&nav=9Tai#

[Pooge]

And another video...

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/16405766/detail.html