THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 5, 1994 TAG: 9409050057
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ESTES THOMPSON, ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CAMP LEJEUNE LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
If Marines now floating in ships off Haiti are ordered to invade Port-Au-Prince, many will draw on lessons they learned in Combat City.
The city has much in common with the Haitian capital - it was designed that way.
``It's supposed to look like a third world city,'' said Marine Gunnery Sgt. Robert Fleig. ``That's where we're at most of the time. It teaches them urban fighting.''
Almost daily, troops cross the Bea Taylor Memorial Bridge and walk along Mayberry Drive, passing the shopping bazaar and the hotel. At the end of the street is a church. To the right are condos. To the left is a soccer field, followed by houses.
The buildings aren't furnished, but they look realistic. Their doors bear bootprints, scorch marks and other scars. In the hotel, a rabbit warren of doors and small rooms simulate the real thing.
Called Combat City casually, it officially is a Military Operations in Urban Terrain, or MOUNT, facility. The Army's Fort Bragg in Fayetteville has a similar city, as do other military bases around the country.
At Camp Lejeune, it cost nearly $8 million to build the 31 buildings spread over 19 acres. Construction started in May 1988 and was completed the next year.
Since then, all kinds of warriors have trained here.
``We get everybody from law enforcement, civilian types, to Navy SEAL teams,'' said Gunnery Sgt. Herman Jackson. ``They got to learn how to clear one building at a time.''
One of the largest buildings simulates a hotel, or sometimes an embassy depending on the exercise being conducted. A helicopter can land on its roof.
The city gives soldiers a real idea of fighting conditions they might face in a city, said Lance Cpl. Marc Balcerzak, 21, of Rochester, N.Y.
``So many places to hide and unfamiliar terrain,'' he said. ``The enemy knows the area and you're going in cold.''
During a recent exercise, troops from the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines divided into groups simulating aggressors and defenders. They were fitted with electronic sensors that emit a shrill whistle when hit with a laser generator attached to a rifle.
Soon after the exercise started, a patrol of defenders caught two snipers and held them captive in the hotel's imaginary lobby, which consists of damp concrete walls and floors.
Some American troops got a real taste of urban warfare in Somalia.
``In Somalia we did urban patrolling, a lot of sweeps through streets trying to keep gunmen off the streets,'' said Capt. David A. Dawson. ``There are so many nooks and crannies.
``One of the principles of operating in urban terrain is it favors the defender. On the flip side, it's a grinding kind of warfare. It's a real squad leader's war.''
A squad leader must spend untold hours preparing for the fight before troops even step foot in the city. It's the same with Combat City.
``You don't get this facility on short notice,'' Dawson said. ``You have to request it ahead of time and when you get it, you try to make the most of it. The company commanders, everybody is competitive. They want to win, so they spend time talking about what is the best way to do it.'' by CNB