From: | CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org> |
Date: | 5 Feb 2004 22:42:31 -0000 |
Reply: | cpeo-military |
Subject: | Marines on beach may protect bases |
Texas CORPUS CHRISTI CALLER-TIMES Marines on beach may protect bases Amphibious landing area could aid in BRAC fight By Brad Olson Caller-Times February 4, 2004 A five-mile stretch of land immediately north of Padre Island National Seashore is being considered by the Marine Corps as a site for practicing amphibious landings, local officials said Tuesday. The proposal, organized by the South Texas Military Facilities Task Force, is designed to establish a multi-branch training presence in each of the Coastal Bend's three bases - Naval Station Ingleside, Naval Air Station Corpus Christi and Naval Air Station Kingsville. Task force officials said the addition would greatly strengthen the position of the bases - particularly Ingleside - in preparation for the upcoming 2005 base closure round. Some environmental groups said they had been briefed by the task force about the proposed use of the land in Kleberg County, and have given the operations a tepid endorsement so long as they come with contractual environmental concessions that will protect nesting sea turtles, dunes and wetlands. The task force will present a resolution about the proposal to the Kleberg County Commissioners Court on Monday, after having presented it to more than 60 defense officials, military leaders and local politicians. Gary Bushell, a local consultant for the task force, said the land would be used by the Marine Corps to practice landings by vehicles that travel on land and sea. Training also will include military operations on land. Bushell said the training would take place from Oct. 1 to March 31 to avoid hurricane season and the nesting season for endangered sea turtles. If the operations _are approved, they will _take place in 2004 and 2005. The contract could be extended to last 10 years, Bushell said. The operations would close the beaches twice for two _to three days in a five-_mile stretch of land about two miles south of Bob Hall Pier. The Marines would practice landing a decoy force on the land near the seashore, while other troops take over military bases, in this case, the three area Navy installations. The beach in question is owned by the Texas General Land Office in Kleberg _County. Corpus Christi Mayor Loyd Neal, chairman of the task force, said allowing the military to use the stretch of land is one of several initiatives that could position all three bases as important installations for the military's future. "We don't want to be part of the Department of Defense of the 20th century, we want to be part of the Department of Defense of the 21st century," Neal said. To do that, the bases have to provide a capability for all the military branches to train together simultaneously, Neal said. This type of joint training has been stressed by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as a vital way to prepare different military branches to fight together, which has been the predominant form of combat in recent military engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq. This article can be viewed at: http://www.caller.com/ccct/local_news/article/0,1641,CCCT_811_2628569,00.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CPEO: A DECADE OF SUCCESS. Your generous support will ensure that our important work on military and environmental issues will continue. Please consider one of our donation options. Thank you. http://www.groundspring.org/donate/index.cfm?ID=2086-0|721-0 | |
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