“If you’re going to San Francisco… you’ll meet a lot of gentle people there”

Yes, the people of San Francisco are gentle, as long as you do not cross paths with their single-issue causes and politics. If you do, be prepared to have that flower ripped from your hair. I left my heart in San Francisco, along with my faith in that city’s commitment to our country’s worldwide peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts. Does it sound harsh to label a city in this way - one that prides itself in tolerance and open mindedness? Well - they deserve it - and I will explain why.

The Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory’s (MCWL) planned March 14th landing at a beach on the property of the former military installation known as The Presidio, part of a four-day urban warfare exercise; was canceled by a local official of the National Park Service. Even after the Marine Corps agreed not to conduct a surface landing along the “sensitive” dune area, but rather bus the Marines into The Presidio to conduct urban training within the abandoned urban structures, they received an unqualified “no”.

Park service officials were quoted as saying that they were concerned about the potential civilian impact, citing the possible invasion of protesters and spectators on the sensitive beach and other areas of The Presidio.

Okay, so the local National Park Service officials put the nix on the exercises. Where did the city government, one that not so long ago hailed the arrival of the Marine Corps into this fair city stand? Mayor Willie Brown’s office offered an equivalent of a “no comment” cop-out, trying to simultaneously appease the opponents of the military exercise, the Marine Corps, and probably the city’s services-related business district. A business district that had much to gain from the influx of thousands of people representing the Department of Defense, defense contractors and tourists during an “off-season” period. For those that do not believe tourists attend military related events, I enjoin you to show up at a “Fleet Week” or “Air Show” event a couple of hours before the scheduled kick-off time. Good luck getting in. That said – that’s not the point.

Recent history shows that the vast majority of our military deployments are in support of peacemaking, peacekeeping, and/or humanitarian operations. U.S. military forces (for the politically correct – the term forces is defined here as our sons and daughters who are devoted, professional and increasingly deployed in harms way) have, and will find themselves performing these missions in an urban environment. Just as the San Francisco Forty-Niners or Giants must conduct practices that resemble games in the “real season” so must our military forces before they are deployed to a hostile urban environment. There is one difference however, military personnel not properly trained for the “real season” suffer a fate much worse than another notch in the loss column.

General Charles Krulak, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, describes our country’s future military deployments as a three-block war. For those adverse to the term war, I offer General Krulak’s description: "In one moment in time, our service members will be feeding and clothing displaced refugees - providing humanitarian assistance. In the next moment, they will be holding two warring tribes apart - conducting peacekeeping operations. Finally, they will be fighting a highly lethal mid-intensity battle. All on the same day, all within three city blocks. It will be what we call the three block war."

Now lets put this in terms that the most ardent pacifist should understand and appreciate:

The government you elected decides where to send U.S. military forces.
The where is urban areas throughout the globe.
The mission is in support of peacekeeping and/or humanitarian efforts.
Certain factions within the city might not want us there.
They might shoot at us.
Our sons and daughters have a right to defend themselves, especially when they are attempting to restore normalcy to an urban area. An area they might not have known existed when they were in high-school a year or two previously.

Of particular note, the general public must be aware that our military services do not have a training area that can replicate the “system of systems” environment of an urban area. The Marine Corps and Army have urban training facilities at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and Fort Polk, Louisiana, among others. However, they are not much larger than a “one-horse” town. Complicating matters more, these facilities cannot replicate the urban sprawl, the shantytowns, the constrained interaction with non-combatants, the subterranean and high-rise environment, and many other environmental and cultural factors that go hand-in-hand with urban operations. To test new concepts and validate potential new doctrine and tactics, the military services must be afforded the opportunity to exercise at a level beyond our “sandlot” training areas. This can only be done in the “big leagues” – real cities.

That said, I thank the city governments of Chicago and New York, who earlier extended open arms to the Marine Corps. Of particular importance, the Marine Corps was not the sole beneficiary of earlier urban exercises in these cities. The exchange of information concerning terrorism, the possible use of chemical and biological weapons, and disaster assistance are but a few examples of the expertise the military services can bring to the table. Chicago and New York were appreciative and should be thanked for their hospitality.

Finally, I find San Francisco’s position ironic. The position this city has taken concerning military exercises puts it right in line with many of the extreme militia groups. These groups believe that military urban exercises in our nations’ cities are a cover for a United Nations (or other international or national organizations) plot to undermine or take over the United States. Their opposition is as stringent as San Francisco’s. Strange bedfellows.

The MOUT Homepage Hot Links:

Operation Urban Warrior (San Francisco Chronicle - Editorial)
San Francisco Keeps Marines at Bay (Washington Post - Urban Warrior)
Park Service Rejects Invasion of Presidio (San Fransico Chronicle - Urban Warrior)
Park Service Rejects Marines Simulated Invasion of Presidio (AP - San Francisco)
For the Leathernecks: Peace Games (San Francisco Examiner)

Visitor since 23 February 1998

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