Shaffer
12-17-03, 08:31 AM
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - Howitzer and mortar shells whirled overhead while an attack jet streaked across the sky, dropping a 500-pound bomb that burst with a deafening noise. The exploding munitions sent clouds of white smoke into the air.
Those are the sights and sounds of a Marine Corps training exercise that began with amphibious landings Friday at this Florida Panhandle base. It will continue through Wednesday.
The bomb drop on a weapons range Monday drew a cheer from Marines who felt its jolt in a control tower 1,700 yards away.
"That concussion thump in the chest, you can't buy that anywhere," said Col. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., commander of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit.
It is a thump no longer heard on Vieques Island in Puerto Rico where the Marines conducted similar training for decades. The Navy closed its bombing range there in May following a series of protests that began with the 1999 death of a civilian security guard when a several bombs missed their target.
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/7505585.htm
Those are the sights and sounds of a Marine Corps training exercise that began with amphibious landings Friday at this Florida Panhandle base. It will continue through Wednesday.
The bomb drop on a weapons range Monday drew a cheer from Marines who felt its jolt in a control tower 1,700 yards away.
"That concussion thump in the chest, you can't buy that anywhere," said Col. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., commander of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit.
It is a thump no longer heard on Vieques Island in Puerto Rico where the Marines conducted similar training for decades. The Navy closed its bombing range there in May following a series of protests that began with the 1999 death of a civilian security guard when a several bombs missed their target.
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/7505585.htm