That's Good Training! 
2003 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance
Well, here is the first Darwin I happened to catch sight of for the New Year. Two potential Green Berets were completing their final training excise to become "full Berets". The exercise is called "Robin Sage" and involves a 19 day field problem where the soldiers infiltrate an imaginary country called "Pineland", a 50,000 square mile area in North Carolina. They are then suppose to begin the task of training, advising, and assisting a group of "anti-government guerrillas", which are usually a combination of civilian volunteers and active military personnel. The training is supposed to test the soldiers' creativity, adaptability, and persuasiveness. Well these two soldiers, who will remain nameless (you can lookup the story on CNN if you want names), dressed in civilian cloths, had a disassembled rifle stuffed into an army duffle bag, and managed to "appropriated" a pickup truck. They then proceeded to drive off of the training site, only to be stopped by a deputy sheriff because they "looked extremely suspicious". You can only imagine the thoughts going through the soldier’s heads "boy this sure is realistic training!" Welllll, When the deputy approached their vehicle to question the two individuals, I guess they decided to show off their "creativity and adaptability" by trying to overpower the deputy and disarm him. In the ensuing scuffle, the "civilian" deputy was able to draw his weapon and tragically kill one of the "Special Forces" soldiers and wound the other. Even while wounded and handcuffed, with other police units and ambulances arriving, and his partner lying dead beside him - the remaining soldier refused to talk, move, or identify himself (guess he was still impressed at how "real" the training seemed). I am not bashing the army or it’s training techniques by posting this story (especially not in these times). I am actually a former member of the Army myself and have taken part in many trainings of this nature. I also know for a fact that when caught during training, especially by someone dressed in a "civilian" deputy’s uniform, you are not suppose to offer any resistance. These guys obviously had delusions of herodom in their heads. The "Robin Sage" exercise has been running for 50 years now without a fatality of this nature. New changes to take place because of this accident include:
1) Civilian clothes will not be allowed.
Soldiers must always were fatigues
2) It will be made very clear to soldiers that "civilian" authorities are not a part of the exercise
Other incidents that have occurred over the years during the course of the training:
1) Soldiers surrounded and scared the hell out of a troop of Girl Scouts around a camp fire
2) Several soldiers were arrested trying to break into a "safe house". The landlord was called and told the police that it was o.k. – they had rented the building
3) Two soldiers went off the road in their vehicle and knocked over a power pole, shutting off electricity for a chick farm. Uncle Sam had to pay for a million dead chickens.
I guess the moral of the story is "Make sure everyone is playing before you take action". I guess even our Special Forces guys can get caught up in the "Darwin Experience". I especially like the deputy's last comment: "They were doing their training. I was out there doing my job, - those two don't mix."
Submitted on 03/04/02
Submitted by:
Anonymous
Reference:
CNN - February 27, 2002
Copyright © 2002 DarwinAwards.com
|
