DATE=5/5/98
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-40271
TITLE=URBAN WARFARE TRAINING
BYLINE=MICHAEL LELAND
DATELINE=CHICAGO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: THE U-S MARINES ARE VISITING SEVERAL U-S CITIES DURING
THE NEXT TWO YEARS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT FIGHTING ON WHAT THEY CALL
THE BATTLEFIELDS OF THE FUTURE: THE WORLD'S BIG CITIES. SEVERAL
DOZEN MARINES ARE IN THE MIDWEST CITY OF CHICAGO THIS WEEK FOR A
FIRST-HAND LOOK AT CHALLENGES THEY WOULD FACE IN URBAN COMBAT.
MORE FROM VOA'S MICHAEL LELAND.
TEXT: // STREET NOISE (ESTABLISH, FADE UNDER TEXT) //
THE TOUGHEST FIGHT MOST PEOPLE IN DOWNTOWN CHICAGO FACE IS
GETTING ACROSS THE STREET WITHOUT BEING STRUCK BY A FAST-MOVING
TAXICAB, BUT THE U-S MARINES SAY CITIES PRESENT THEM WITH MANY
MORE CHALLENGES. AMONG THEM: COMMUNICATING WHILE IN CLOSE
PROXIMITY TO AN ENEMY, MINIMIZING EFFECTS OF BATTLE ON CIVILIANS
AND ACCORDING TO LIEUTENANT COLONEL GARY SCHENKEL OF THE MARINE
CORPS WARFIGHTING LABORATORY, LEARNING WHETHER CITY SEWERS CAN BE
USED AS UNDERGROUND PASSAGEWAYS.
// SCHENKEL ACT #1 //
WE HAVE THIS CONCEPT THAT WE CAN USE SEWERS FOR
TRAVERSING INSIDE THE BATTLEFIELD. THE REALITY IS THERE
MIGHT BE TOO MUCH METHANE GAS, OR THE SEWERS MIGHT FLOOD
OR ALL OF THE THINGS WE DO NOT KNOW ABOUT THE URBAN
INFRASTRUCTURE AND THAT IS WHY WE ARE HERE: TO FIND
THOSE KINDS OF THINGS OUT.
// END ACT //
THE MARINES SAY THEY ARE NOT IN CHICAGO BECAUSE THEY ARE
EXPECTING A FOREIGN TAKEOVER OF THE CITY, BUT RATHER BECAUSE IT
OFFERS A LITTLE OF EVERYTHING U-S FORCES COULD FACE IN OVERSEAS
URBAN BATTLES: A RIVER, BRIDGES, SUBWAYS AND TALL BUILDINGS.
COLONEL TOM O'LEARY SAYS THE TWO-YEAR EXPERIMENT IN URBAN COMBAT
IS A NECESSARY ONE BECAUSE WITHIN 20 YEARS, NEARLY 80-PERCENT OF
THE WORLD'S POPULATION IS EXPECTED TO LIVE IN OR NEAR LARGE
CITIES. HE SAYS RIGHT NOW, THE U-S MILITARY IS BETTER TRAINED
FOR WIDE-OPEN BATTLEFIELDS LIKE THOSE OF THE 1991 DESERT STORM
CONFLICT THAN IT IS FOR URBAN FIGHTING.
// O'LEARY ACT //
I AM PRETTY SURE THAT ONE THING MOST OF OUR FUTURE
ENEMIES ARE TAKING AWAY FROM DESERT STORM IS DO NOT
FIGHT A U-S LED COALITION OUT IN THE OPEN AGAINST THEIR
OVERWHELMING SUPERIORITY. TRY TO FIGURE OUT AN
ENVIRONMENT THAT WILL BE TOUGH FOR U-S SERVICE
PERSONNEL TO FIGHT IN AND TRY TO FIGHT THEM IN SOME
ASYMMETRICAL MANNER. PROBABLY ONE OF THE TOUGHEST
ENVIRONMENTS THAT ANY U-S SERVICE PERSONNEL WILL FIND
THEMSELVES IN IN THE PAST OR THE FUTURE IS IN A LARGE
CITY.
// END ACT //
THE 80 MARINES WILL TOUR CHICAGO'S SUBWAY SYSTEM, WATER
FILTRATION PLANT, SEWERS, AND BRIDGES. LIEUTENANT COLONEL GARY
SCHENKEL SAYS THEY WILL ALSO MEET WITH POLICE AND FIRE OFFICIALS
TO LEARN SOME OF WHAT THEY KNOW ABOUT WORKING IN CITIES.
// SCHENKEL ACT #2 //
THEY FIGHT 300 FIRES A YEAR. THEY FIGHT BARRICADED
SUSPECTS DAY IN AND DAY OUT. MANY OF OUR MARINES CAN GO
TEN-TO-15 YEARS BEFORE THEY HEAR A SHOT FIRED IN ANGER.
ALTHOUGH THAT COMBAT MIGHT BE MORE INTENSE AT THE TIME,
THE EXPERIENCE IN THE CITY THAT YOUR POLICE AND FIRE
HAVE IS THE KIND OF EXPERTISE THAT WE NEED.
// END ACT //
MARINES FROM THE WARFIGHTING LABORATORY WILL VISIT NEW YORK CITY
IN LATE MAY, TO LEARN THE BEST WAY TO MOVE GEAR BETWEEN THE UPPER
FLOORS OF TALL BUILDINGS. EXPERIMENTS ARE ALSO PLANNED THIS YEAR
IN THE CITIES OF CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA AND JACKSONVILLE,
FLORIDA. THE MARINES SAY THEY WILL PUT WHAT THEY LEARN TO THE
TEST IN A MOCK BATTLE NEXT YEAR IN A WEST COAST CITY. (SIGNED)
NEB/MJL/KL
05-May-98 3:12 PM EDT (1912 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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