MOUT.

This is coolbert

From the Chicago Tribune today”

“Mayor stops Marine war game in city”

“Toledo, Ohio - -“

“Mayor Carty Finkbeiner said Sunday that he stands by his decision to stop a Michigan-based Marine battalion from holding an urban warfare training session downtown.”

“About 200 reservists, whose unit is based in Grand Rapids, had prepared to conduct the exercise at a vacant building Friday when city officials put a stop to it.”

“Finkbeiner said that more than 10,000 people would have been leaving downtown offices as Friday’s exercise unfolded.”

“The mayor asked them to leave because they frighten people”, Finkbeiner spokesman Brian Schwartz said.”

There is much more to this than meets the eye? I am afraid it may be so. The battalion was going to conduct a MOUT [Military Operations Urban Terrain] exercise and was prepared for the mission, and all of a sudden, it was called off? Something very fishy here. One abandoned building, 200 reservists, all pre-arranged presumably, and A CANCELLATION ALL OF A SUDDEN!!??

NO, something not right with the explanation given by the “spokesman”. NOTE - - you would think the mayor himself would give the response in person, but he did NOT even have the guts to show up.

I HAVE often thought that many of these depressed areas in American big cities with a lot of abandoned buildings make an excellent environment for MOUT training. MOUT must be well understood, prepared for, practiced. As was with the Fallujah operation. U.S. forces, overcame 2,000 jihadis, the latter well dug-in and prepared for months in advance, with relative low-casualties on the part of American troops. NOT the normal experience for troops engaging in MOUT warfare. Training, practice, well-thought-out doctrine and techniques go a long way.

Surely Maybe Finkbeiner understands this? Or was he persuaded by other concerns?

coolbert.