Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Well, isn't this interesting? "Expanding military training activities in Cooper Creek" (Georgia) area.

By Jim Walker, District Leader, Georgia Forest Watch: "Don’t be surprised to encounter Army Rangers in the Cooper Creek area."
I have long been accustomed to seeing soldiers and signs of their activity in the vicinity of Camp Merrill, the Ranger training base in the Etowah watershed, and as far away as Hickory Flat in the Noontootla watershed. They even use the Appalachian Trail. But until this year, to my knowledge, they have never operated as far away from the camp as Cooper Creek.
Back in June, Georgia ForestWatch District Leader David Govus came across two soldiers on foot and one in a pickup truck near Bryant Creek, a tributary of Cooper Creek. Talking with them, he learned that they were scouting out potential helicopter landing zones in the area because, as the sergeant said “the colonel wants to step out.”
The first confirmation that this has been accomplished was on a Sunday in early November. While David was leading a hike in the Cooper Creek area, he met six big army trucks. A soldier on foot in the lead was very helpful in squeezing the wide trucks past the hikers’ vehicles on the narrow road.
Then in December, I had an opportunity to observe the whole operation in action. Accompanying a Forest Service employee going out to core some trees and survey a couple of older stands included in the proposed Cooper Creek project, we came upon a blazing fire. Expecting hunters, instead we found six soldiers with two jeeps, two trailers, and a very large canvas tent, maybe 200 square feet. Not wanting to interfere with their operation, we talked with them to make sure that we would not get in their way. No problem, they said. They would be conducting a three-day training exercise, but the bulk of the troops would not be arriving until later. They also told us that these exercises would be happening on a regular basis, and “you can expect to be seeing a lot more of us.”
With the soldiers’ permission, we went on up the ridge to measure the diameters of selected trees and core them to determine their age. About an hour later, I heard two helicopters approaching and could see that they were heading toward a food plot about a mile and a half away. Because of the terrain, I could not see them land, but they were out of sight only briefly before returning the way they came. The helicopters made four or five trips to the same location, and as we passed by their campfire on our way out, the soldiers verified that those were their guys coming in.
In an apparently unrelated incident, I recently happened to be at Wilscot Gap, where the gated road to Brawley Mountain (FS45) begins, when a big pickup truck turned in toward the gate. I thought it must be Forest Service employees and went over to talk with them. But the truck was not a Forest Service one. The driver was not in military uniform, but the passenger who got out to unlock the gate, was. We had a brief, friendly conversation during which he informed me that, “This is a military road.” “No,” I contradicted him, “it’s a Forest Service road.”

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why now?

Obama is trying to make the population oppose and even despise the military and everyone in it. He is trying to gun up protests that his media buddies can twist into opposition and derision (bringing back the Vietnam era disdain.

Do NOT take the bait!! Do not oppose the military people themselves and for gods sakes do not participate in this contrivance. Yes, we must oppose this action and we can even organize protests BUT they must be waged at the statehouse demanding the governors step up -

For the Commander in Chief cannot order deployment even for training outside bases without the request/permission of the commander In chief of the state! It's the impeachable offense that blanco tried to bait bush into committing during the Katrina aftermath.

Think this one through folks. Don't take obamas bait!

Informed42 said...

What's the military doing locking a gate on a Forest Service Road ?

What are they 'stepping out' for ? Or practicing for ?

You have to wonder how many other areas they're pulling the same crap in but haven't been noticed and reported on yet.

Anonymous said...

Looks like it's a MILITARY ROAD now. Time for some CALTROPS to be spread around (just for decoration only).

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Anonymous said...

Appears to me these guys are Ranger Training Brigade personnel looking for new ground to train on. Maybe the "colonel" is looking for bullets points on his efficiency report by expanding his training area. I would call the Forest Service to ask them if the Army is expanding its training area. BTW Ranger School is the Army's premier combat leadership school, the majority of the attendees are not special forces personnel and the North Georgia isn't the best place to train for overseas contingency operations (NM and CO look more like Afghanistan or Middle East countries).

Anonymous said...

It's not like they are strangers to various kinds of terrain. There, or not, it's no advantage to them to practice, and no disadvantage to the paranoid if they do. But, if you must, you can study them. Not like they can do anything to you - yet... muuuwahahahahahahaaaaaaa