THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 10, 1996 TAG: 9605100527
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ROBERT BURNS, ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: ABOARD MOUNT WHITNEY LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
Thousands of British and American troops massed off the North Carolina coast Thursday for a mock amphibious assault in the largest U.S.-British war games in decades.
Defense Secretary William J. Perry and his British counterpart, Michael Portillo, came aboard this U.S. warship for a firsthand look before the mock attack on the Marine Corps base at Camp Lejeune.
After hearing a detailed briefing, Perry told reporters the exercise was demonstrating a degree of integration between allied forces that could not have been achieved as recently as the Persian Gulf War.
``Even five years ago this could not have been possible,'' Perry said.
About 15,000 British troops with 27 ships and 57 aircraft are operating with about 38,000 American troops as a coalition force against the fictitious enemy nation of Korona, whose army ``invaded'' the smaller country of Kartuna.
A combined U.S.-British amphibious assault overnight was kicking off the war, to be followed next Wednesday by an airborne landing by thousands of paratroopers deep into enemy-occupied territory - actually the Fort Bragg Army post.
The scenario is meant to replicate a potential crisis in the Persian Gulf. To add to the realism, an imaginary peninsula - ``Sabani'' - was created off the coast to form a gulf. The allied navies are operating as if the peninsula were real, steering around boundaries shown on computers.
Portillo said he was pleased with the degree of cooperation with U.S. forces.
``There is even more integration between the two nations than I had imagined,'' he told reporters after reviewing computer-generated maps of the allied and ``enemy'' forces in the area.
Perry and Portillo also were flying to the HMS Illustrious, a British aircraft carrier nearby that is the flagship of the British naval forces here.
Among the other U.S. warships participating are the aircraft carrier Enterprise and its battle group. All of the services are involved in the exercise.
The Air Force, for example, is flying fighters, the new C-17 cargo plane and a U-2 spy plane. The Marines are heading the amphibious assault force, and the Army's 82nd Airborne Division will be leading the paratrooper landing at Fort Bragg.
The exercise ends May 20. by CNB