Black Ops? No, But Military Trains On Ground As Well As Air

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
Portland Oregonian
August 28, 2008
By Kimberly A.C. Wilson, The Oregonian
As dusk fell over Portland on Wednesday, plans for another night of black helicopters remained up in the air.
The choppers, it turns out, were a no-show until after 10 p.m on the final night of a 10-day military training exercise.
But special operations units conducted training on the ground at an abandoned hotel just west of the Interstate Bridge. The Portland Police Bureau sometimes leases that property for its own training exercises.
The training was out of public view. Instead, the clear but chilly night sky at the site along the Columbia River revealed many stars and departing planes from Portland International Airport.
Helicopters did join the exercise eventually, said Sgt. Brian Schmautz, a police spokesman.
Two nights after the unmarked aircraft swooped low over the city, startling residents and fueling conspiracy theorists, their absence in the skies likely went unmourned.
Scores of residents complained to police and politicians after Monday's display of stealth and might. For four hours, a quartet of military helicopters practiced drills that included sudden aerial maneuvers and quick landings on downtown high-rises.
The four MH-6 helicopters were part of a long-planned joint training exercise for U.S. Army and Navy special operations forces, according to Mayor Tom Potter and the U.S. Department of Defense.
About 180 people associated with the training have been in the area since Aug. 18. The exercise is to wrap up today.
Realistic Urban Training exercises, conducted in cities across the nation, are designed to expose military units to realistic scenarios in an urban setting, said Lt. Nathan Potter -- no relation to the mayor -- who approved the Defense Department's request to train in Portland.
With little notification, the sudden appearance of black helicopters carrying seemingly armed men in black generated a flurry of calls to emergency dispatchers and queries on local blogs.
They were expected to fly in a much smaller footprint Wednesday night, according to the city.
Portland Police Chief Rosie Sizer asked the Defense Department to restrict helicopter-training activities to the Jantzen Beach area, where commercial properties, hotels and open water predominate.
The military said it would cooperate and planned no more than 45 minutes of exercises, said John Doussard, the mayor's spokesman.
Lt. Potter wouldn't confirm that report, saying the military does not like to publicize its flight plans for safety reasons.
"Our chief concern is to ensure that everything goes over smoothly with regards to the public, the general public's safety," he said.
 
Back
Top