Tucson Region
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.15.2008
Editor's note: Troops will be brought home, but it's not to end the War. - It's to instill Martial Law, & the troops trained to shoot American civilians story from months ago needs to be highlighted at this point. Any civil unrest is only because the international banksters & the privately owned Federal Reserve have caused an INTENTIONAL global economic crisis.
To troops downed in combat, few sights are sweeter than
the approach of military rescuers. In a few weeks, Tucson will be at
the center of efforts to speed up that lifesaving process.
Personnel from around the globe will converge at Davis-Monthan Air
Force Base from Dec. 1 to Dec. 12 for the largest rescue exercise of
its kind.
The effort, dubbed Angel Thunder, will involve the U.S. Army and
Air Force, troops from Germany, Chile, Colombia and observers from
Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Pakistan.
Several non-military U.S. agencies such as the State and Justice
departments, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the
National Reconnaissance Office, also will take part in the drills,
which aim to smooth interaction between military branches, allied
nations and civilian agencies.
With about 450 personnel involved, Angel Thunder "is the most
complex and largest Department of Defense personnel- recovery exercise
to date," said a news release from Air Combat Command in Langley, Va.
D-M will be at the hub of the effort, but most of the mock rescue
action will take place elsewhere in Arizona and in New Mexico.
Tucsonans may notice some unfamiliar aircraft in the skies during
the drills, such as Vietnam-era UH-1N Huey helicopters, which will be
used to airlift personnel and equipment to and from training.
But D-M officials predict minimal impact on city residents because
some of the base's normal training will be suspended during the
exercises, and the heaviest traffic will be at remote sites.
For many of the military participants, the drills will serve as
pre-deployment training for missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Maj.
Brett Hartnett, a D-M rescue pilot and project officer in charge of the
event.
Some of the practice runs are classified — the Defense Department
doesn't want enemies knowing the methods used by military rescuers — so
few details are being released, Hartnett said.
But a major part of training will center on a mock earthquake in a
foreign country near a combat zone — the same scenario that arose in
Pakistan a few years back when U.S. combat rescuers in Afghanistan were
diverted over the border to aid civilian survivors.
Military rescuers often are called upon to save civilians during
natural disasters abroad and at home. No matter who needs saving, many
basic rescue skills are the same, Hartnett said.
Such training is crucial to keeping skills sharp, and ensuring agencies can work together well, Hartnett said.
"We need to do what we need to do to bring the kids back home," he said.
Source: Azstarnet.com
