This summer the Corps completed construction of its first urban bombing range 35 miles southeast of Marine Corps Air Station Yuma. Named "Yodaville" after the call sign of one of the Marines responsible for its construction, Major Floyd J. Usry, Jr. (See MCG, May 1999), the 1,000-feet by 800-feet bombing range was built in 7 months by Marine Engineers at a cost of $500,000. It consists of 54 large structures, some as tall as 38 feet, and 193 smaller structures. Yodaville has streetlights, junked cars, old trucks, and four scarred tanks within its confines that also includes stick figures made from metal bars and dressed in civilian attire or military uniforms.

In June the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory conducted a Limited Technical Assessment (LTA) at Yodaville. Miramar-based F/A-18s and Camp Pendleton-based AH-1Ws conducted close air support (CAS) missions with the aid of tactical air control party (TACP) teams marking targets with lasers. The F/A-18s used inert bombs, while the Super Cobras fired cannons and missiles in their efforts to hit laser-designated targets throughout the urban complex. Following the LTA, Marines were able to view the effectiveness via a playback of the film taken by infrared cameras from the aircraft. Two lessons learned were immediately apparent from the LTA:

- The TACP experienced difficulties effectively marking targets with lasers due to the urban clutter.

- The inert practice bombs were inconsistently hitting laser-designated targets (two structures were hit, six were missed).

The Corps will continue to evaluate and refine the role of CAS in an urban environment. The fact it can do so in an environment such as Yodaville is significant, and will provide many more future lessons learned.

The MOUT Homepage Hot Links:

San Diego Union-Tribune Article

The Arizona New Republic Article

Visitor since 23 February 1998

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page