|
|
||
Fort A.P. Hill
By RUSTY DENNEN After midnight under a moonlit sky, 15 men moved slowly along a ravine in a hardwood forest at Fort A.P. Hill. Through the otherworldly green shimmer of night-vision goggles, the squad of Army soldiers resembled ghosts as they approached an "enemy" trench. Twinkling infrared beacons attached to helmets identified the men to each other as they fanned out for the attack. Capt. David Ike of Watertown, N.Y., the 31-year-old commander, watched every move from a vantage point about 25 yards away. He whispered, "They are really taking their time with the approach, which is the way it should be at night." As plastic targets popped up at the bunker, the squad opened fire. The staccato tat-tat-tat-tat of M240 machine guns and softer pop-pop-pop of M4 rifles pierced the silence. Muzzle flashes and the red glare of tracer rounds illuminated the controlled chaos. Within 20 minutes, the firefight was over, the trench taken, and officers critiqued the engagement. The soldiers are among a contingent of 800 troops from the 10th Mountain Division out of Fort Drum, N.Y., training for several weeks at the Caroline County Army post. With two wars under way and other threats looming on the horizon, all branches of the U.S. military, some government agencies and troops from foreign nations train here. It's so busy at Fort A.P. Hill that in a typical day, as many as 50 training events are scheduled around the clock, dispelling the notion that "the Hill," as it's known locally, is simply a venue for National Guard weekend warriors, the National Scout Jamboree and sportsmen. By year's end, 80,000 to 90,000 troops will have trained at the base named after a Civil War general and whose motto is "Where America's Military Sharpens Its Combat Edge." TRAINING 24/7 A Free Lance-Star reporter and photographer spent part of two days on the base recently, dropping in periodically on the soldiers from Fort Drum. As one of the most-deployed Army units, the 10th Mountain Division has been through more than its share of training--and fighting--since the Iraq war began in March 2003.
I reside in Milford & sometimes I can hear troops training on base however it never bothers me or the noise. I've been on the base & love it since it offers a lot. Keep on training here & hopefully maybe it can be an active base again.
|
|
||||||||||||||
