kindle liberty feb 1982

7/27/2019 Kindle Liberty Feb 1982

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aI Lib

rlI I II

rnp r re I

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u n d rEMPIRE R ANGE (1 93d PAO) -El e me ntso fthe

101 s t Airbor ne Division (Air Ass ault) h ave a rrive dhe re to pa rticipate in the U.S . S outhern Command' sjoint tra ining exe rcise , Kindle Libe rty.

Afte r arri va l a t Howa rd Air Forc e Base abo a rdC -5A "Ga lax y" a ircra ft of the U.S. Ai r Force'sMilitary Airlift Co mm a nd (MAC), th e 101 st

dep loye d to Empi re Ra nge base ca mp whe re the y setup te nts a nd a la nding zo ne for th e ir a ircraf t.

Inst ruc tors from th e Jun gle Op e ra tions Tra ininqCe nte r (.lOTC ), Ft. Sh e rman, g ave c lasses to t he a irassaul t troops prior to the ex erci se co mm e ncin g.The c lasses include d jungl e living, pla nts a nd foods,and la nd navigat ion.

Th e JOTC perso nn e l a lso gave spe cia lize dins truc tion to the 101s t train e rs in ve rtica lex trac tion a nd e quipm e nt las hing fo r the RB-1 5rubbe r bo a ts use d in h e l i-cas tinq.

Kindle Libe rty s tar te d 'W e dn es da y a nd will e ndFe b. 19. Th e joint exe rcise includes tr ainin g incommuni cations, a cris is act ion tea m, ci vil

dis turb a nces/ an d a j oint e me rge ncy evac ua tion pl a n.Kindle Liber ty is t he latest in a se ries of a nn ua l

exerc ises in the ca na l a re a t o test t he co mb inedU.S. -P a na ma nian defe ns e of t he P ana ma Ca na lUnits from the Army, Navy, Mar ines , Air Force, a ndthe P a na ma Gu a rdia Nat iona l a re pa rticipati ng in the

exe rcise.

Feb 1982


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lj

The firSt indication -of any

< threet to take 'over the cana l

was in t h e form of riots at

Rodmen Pie r where unruly

crowds disrupted off - loading

opera tion s.


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This is one of the few times that we ever conducted Civil Disturbance (CD) training at Rodman Naval Station. This is 1st Plt534th MP Co (STRAF). I'm in the rear in the Asst Sqd Ldr position. We probably had more people hurt / injured during thisexercise than any other we ever did. At least half a dozen left arm injuries (a few fractures and some sprains) due to the way CDtraining was taught at MP school. Having the left arm up and parallel to the ground with the elbow sticking out when in the "Onguard" position was just asking for someone to hit you there. We also had a few broken noses from projectiles breaking throughthe flimsy face shields we used to have. Notice the mask carriers strategically placed over the groin area, long sleeves andgloves in 90 0 Temps. We came prepared but anything can happen and usually did. John S. Sporrer (MSG / Ret.)


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534th MP's fanout to seal off demonstrator s during civil disturbance training at Rodman .


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MP's move into a crowd o f simulated rioters as "dispersion action" effectivel y stops a civil disturbance exercise at Rodman Pier.

Rodman Naval Base with the Bridge of the Americas in the background.

kindle liberty feb 1982

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