Marines roar over the area
Training exercises startle residents

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

By AMANDA BUCK - Bulletin Staff Writer

The rumble of helicopters overhead filled uptown Martinsville on Tuesday as Marines from Camp Lejeune, N.C., took part in training exercises here.

“We thought they were going to land on the roof,” said Carolyn Beale, coordinator of Patrick Henry Community College’s School of Craft and Design.

When military helicopters flew over the school’s West Church Street building on Tuesday afternoon, “it kind of shook the roof,” Beale said. “... It really did sound like they were just swooping down.”

Although the helicopters didn’t land on any roofs uptown, they did touch down in some areas, including the site of the future civic center at the corner of Fayette and Moss streets. That clearing is one of 13 possible landing zones that have been identified in Martinsville, said Capt. Kelly Frushour of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is involved in the training.

On Tuesday, Marines began “familiarization flights” in the area, she said. The pilots also practiced quick landings in which they touched down and took off again after only a few minutes.

All of the exercises are designed to help the troops practice scenarios they might face in urban settings. A main goal of urban training is to put the Marines in areas they have never seen, Frushour said.

“We all know Camp Lejeune very well — every shrub, every street lamp,” she said.

Training in southern Virginia gives the Marines “a chance to put an element of the unfamiliar in our training. They have to filter things out,” such as parked cars, power lines or an unfamiliar crossroads.

“It just makes them work harder,” she said.

Nor are the training exercises limited to Martinsville. All told, 2,000 Marines and sailors will take part in the two-week program at sites throughout south-central Virginia, officials have said.

Capt. Christopher Reddaway, who pilots a CH-46E Sea Knight helicopter, said his aircraft is one of four types involved in the exercises. The Sea Knight and the CH-53E Super Stallion are cargo helicopters used to transport troops, supplies and equipment, he said. The Sea Knights generally carry 12 Marines and the Super Stallions carry 24, he added. That leaves them room to pick up additional people.

The other helicopters used in the training are UH-1N Hueys and AH-1W Super Cobras, Reddaway said. They are light attack helicopters.

All of the helicopters have two pilots, and the larger ones also can carry crew chiefs in the back who help the pilots watch for problems, Reddaway said.

As the training goes on, the Marines will continue to practice the quick landings they began Tuesday as well as other techniques they would use if they were deployed. Some of the helicopters might hover over an area while troops drop “fast rope” they use to get out without touching down, he said.

Reddaway, who deployed with the 24th Expeditionary Unit during the evacuation of Lebanon in the summer of 2006, said training exercises such as this one help prepare Marines for future deployments.

“They’re very beneficial, especially getting used to flying in unfamiliar areas,” he said.

Although it can look to an untrained eye as if the helicopters are mere inches from wires and telephone poles, Reddaway said the pilots are trained to maintain a safe distance.

“We are probably a lot higher than you think we are when we’re flying,” he said, “and we know that there are things like wires and towers out there, so we will fly at an altitude that is higher. We preach safety all the time.”

All of the areas the troops will use were surveyed and cleared in advance, Frushour said. If pilots see cars, people or other obstacles in a landing zone, they will not touch down, she added.

In addition to flight exercises, Marines will conduct a raid on a mock terrorist cell at the old DuPont plant just south of Martinsville on Nov. 8. That raid, which will happen at night, probably is the only time Martinsville area residents might see troops on the ground, she said.

Other exercises are planned at Fort Pickett near Blackstone southeast of Farmville, which the troops are using as their base. Also, on Monday, Marines will land four helicopters at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, where they will talk to the public about the aircraft and the exercises from 4 to 5 p.m.

Although most of the Marines are based at Camp Lejeune, the helicopters are stationed nearby at Marine Corps Air Station New River, near Jacksonville, N.C., Reddaway said.

He said he understands the reaction of people such as Beale who are not used to seeing helicopters just overhead.

“All of the sudden you see a 46 landing in a baseball field — that doesn’t normally happen,” he said. “I genuinely hope people like seeing their Marine Corps aircraft in their communities, and hopefully we weren’t making too much noise.”

Beale had no complaints.

“I think it’s kind of neat that they’re training (here),” she said. “I think to pick Southside/Southern Virginia is pretty — I would think that’s unique. ... I think when you see that type of helicopter on the news, then you know, ‘Oh, that was in our area.’ And that’s why I think it’s pretty cool.”

Ellie