THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 16, 1997 TAG: 9701160316
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MEREDITH COHN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 55 lines
The 1983 bombing of the Marine Corps barracks in Beirut left 241 Americans dead and their bosses grappling with a strange new reality: Soldiers, sailors and airmen, the nation's protectors, themselves needed bodyguards.
Today those bodyguards, members of the Norfolk-based Marine Corps Security Battalion, number 3,000 - and been dispatched to some of the world's hottest hot spots to guard military installations and the people on them.
They've been to Haiti, Somalia, the Persian Gulf. They were rushed to Saudi Arabia following last year's terrorist bombing there.
And on Tuesday, they were in Chesapeake.
A contingent of Marines descended on the Navy's Northwest Radio Station, an outpost ringed by farms and dells and relatively few terrorists, to show their stuff to other members of the military who might one day need their services.
Marines fired submachine guns. They retook a building ``captured'' by their ``foes.'' They shot paint balls at their ``enemies,'' then searched them and tied them up.
``We shoot more ammunition than any other battalion in the Marine Corps,'' said Col. William H. Parrish, the battalion's commanding officer. ``We have to. We're armed every day.''
Headquartered at Norfolk Naval Base, the battalion sends about 1,500 Marines to Chesapeake each year to train in the sorts of surroundings they're likely to encounter on the job.
The Northwest installation boasts simulators that mimic buildings and ships, and in them, Marines learn when to shoot, when to hold fire, how to handle unpleasant surprises and how to regain control of buildings. They practice guarding troop convoys, entering foreign bases, fending off terrorist attacks.
``We get pretty close to reality in there,'' said Sgt. Shawn Moake, who participated in the demonstration.
On Tuesday, all this unfolded before 50 potential customers from all branches of the military and a squadron of journalists, who also watched 10 Marines target shoot while kneeling, using their ``weak hands'' and wearing gas masks. After a big, noisy fuss, rays of sunlight streamed through the human-shaped targets.
No one applauded, but they had the group's attention.
Parrish, briefing the press, seemed confident in his battalion.
``We're ready,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MORT FRYMAN/The Virginian-Pilot
A Marine wearing a gas mask moves on to his next shooter's position
during a firing exercise Wednesday as part of demonstration by the
Norfolk-based Marine Corps Security Battalion. Ten Marines found
their targets while kneeling, using their ``weak hands'' and wearing
gas masks.
Color photos appears on p. B1