Was SOCOM's public relations stunt at the Coca Cola 600 part of a larger training operation? Air Force "Invades" Charlotte Motor Speedway Was the pre-race mock exercise actually a retaliatory psywar strike or part of a larger training operation? Or was it just a militaristic PR stunt? by Charles Overbeck Matrix Editor EASTERISLE@aol.com In March, ParaScope reported on secretive Army urban combat training exercises in Charlotte, N.C. which sparked a heated public outcry. Like the reaction to urban military exercises in Pittsburgh a year earlier, local citizens in Charlotte were bewildered and angered by the sounds of helicopters, automatic gunfire and flash-bang grenades which woke children from their beds. Then in April, we reported that Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory had sent a letter to President Clinton to express his grave concerns about the exercises, which he described as "misleading." He outlined the complaints of his distraught constituents, who clearly did not like the idea of an armed invasion of their city -- even if it was just a drill. A considerable amount of national media attention became focused on the situation, including reports by National Public Radio and the Washington Post. The Charlotte Observer ran numerous articles detailing residents' hostile reactions to the faux assault. Although it was not the first time local residents had protested one of its urban combat exercises, the U.S. Army Special Operations Command drew more heat for its Charlotte exercises than it had ever faced before. The response was swift and direct, but probably not quite what Charlotte residents had in mind when they expressed their grievances to their elected officials. On May 28, the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Wing conducted a mock "insertion and rescue" mission right in the middle of the pre-race activities for the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. "Terrorists" had seized Lugnut, the Speedway's mascot, but luckily the ever-vigilant bad-guy blasters from Special Operations Command were there to rescue the hapless caricature. A Speedway audience of 200,000 people and a nationally televised audience of 4.6 million watched heavily-armed airmen save Lugnut with the assistance of air support and some fancy pyrotechnics. "Seeing is believing, and what they saw is the best the Air Force has to offer," said Chief Master Sgt. "Taco" Sanchez, an advisor to the 16th Operations Group. It was a rousing event, full of patriotic go-get 'em enthusiasm -- according to the Air Force News account, anyway, which was written by Capt. John Paradis of the Air Force's 16th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs Unit. Okay, folks, now hold on tight, because here's where the fun begins. According to the unit's web page, the 16th Special Operations Wing "focuses on unconventional warfare, including counterinsurgency and psychological operations during low-intensity conflicts" and works "to support national security objectives." In other words, Capt. John Paradis, author of the Air Force News article, is an experienced psywar spin-meister. Seeing is believing. It gets even better: the exercise employed the use of an MC-130P Combat Shadow, a plane designed to fly "low-level missions into politically sensitive or hostile territory," according to an Air Force factsheet. An MC-130E Combat Talon -- a plane designed for infiltration and used extensively for psywar missions during Desert Storm -- was also used at the NASCAR pre-race military circus. But hold on a second -- it was the U.S. Army Special Operations Command that conducted the urban combat exercises which were too reminiscent of Seven Days in May for some Charlotte residents. The NASCAR mock exercise was conducted by the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command -- a totally different operation, right? Wrong. Both USASOC and AFSOC are subordinate commands of the U.S. Special Operations Command. In other words, both subordinate commands take orders from the same unified command. So was the whole thing an attempt by SOCOM to hamstring public criticism of urban combat exercises in Charlotte, by offering a mock combat exercise as entertainment before a NASCAR race? That would seem to be a very possible scenario. If you really want to see it from the other side of the looking glass, think of it this way: the urban combat exercises may have been the military phase of a larger training operation, and the recent NASCAR mock exercise may have been the psywar clean-up phase of that same operation. If this is true, then one can only imagine what exactly it is that they're training for. To prove it, we'll have to locate a direct order to that effect originating at SOCOM or one of its subordinate commands, or at least authenticated statements from personnel involved. The 16th Special Operations Wing looks like a good place to start. But until we can prove a direct correlation between the NASCAR exercise and the bungled Charlotte drills, the best course of action remains the most obvious: loudly and vehemently protest any military training exercises that you feel are invasive to your community. Charlotte did the right thing. When the time comes, make sure you do, too. Sources: Capt. John Paradis, "Special Ops airmen invade speedway for rescue attempt," Air Force News, May 28, 1997 http://www.af.mil/news/May1997/n19970528_970641.html 16th Special Operations Wing home page: http://www.hurlburt.af.mil/16sow.html Chuck Payne's U.S. Special Operations Command home page: http://users.aol.com/armysof1/SOCOM.html Note: This is NOT SOCOM's official home page. Special thanks to S.A.F.A.N. Internet Newsletter. (c) Copyright 1997 ParaScope, Inc. More on Charlotte Urban Warfare Exercises More on Mayor McCrory's Protest Letter What do you think? Share your views in the message boards!