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Show State lYens i ,. " i , .. . Air Drop An air drop on Cedar Mountain by members of the 82nd Airborne Unit from Fort Bragg, N. C. was a part of two weeks exercise being conducted by National Guard and Regular Army units in the vicinity of Cedar City. Training project involves units from throughout the United States. ifi 1 1 i3fji ii p its con d u ci late Monday evening in an air drop at Sage Flat on Cedar Mountain to really get the project underway. Another unit involved in the exercise is the 997th Aviation Co., of the National Guard of Arizona providing helicopter support. The 26th Infantry Detachment Pathfinders of Kansas as well as the Air Force Control Team from Norton AFB are involved. Residents of the community will be hearing from the 297th Military Intelligence In-telligence Detachment that will be taking part on both sides of the political attitudes. Then there will be the 306th phsycological unit that will be handling leaflet drops and loudspeaker loud-speaker efforts in an attempt to have the guerrillas give up their cause. Medical Assistance Also on hand from Nevada will be the 1150 Medevac Unit which will give medical assistance to the entire (Continued on Page 3) Suddenly residents of Cedar City and the surrounding area are much more aware of the military as combined com-bined exercises of the National Guard and Regular Army got underway in and around the community this week. It will conclude next Thursday as the mock battle between the insurgents in-surgents and the counter-insurgents is fought to see who gains controls of the small country of "Quichipa," Cedar City. Principally it is an exercise designed for the 19th Special Forces Group of the Army National Guard, but it is involving units from throughout the United States including in-cluding the 82nd Airborne out of Ft. Bragg, N. C. Mock War Col. Gil Iker, commander of the 19th Special Forces Group identified the exercise as one of a political nature in which the country of Quichipa has been taken over by the strong Communist Nation of Arrivada to the south. They have taken over control of the government including the police. Those opposed to the overthrow have taken refuge in the mountains to the East and the government of Milfordia to the North has sent in special troops to help the guerrilla units establish themselves and providing the trainigg and logistical assistance to regain control of the country from within. Political overtones "All wars are political in nature," Col. Iker stated and this is theoretical situation has taken these elements and created a training exercise. It will all come to a close Thursday of next week in a mock battle in w hich it is expected that the counter insurgents in-surgents will retain control of Quichipa from the insurgents. Involved are troops from throughout the country-some 1400 in all-including those who are participating par-ticipating in the exercise at Camp Williams in Northern Utah. Primarily however, it is a two-week exercise for the 19th Special Forces Group of the National Guard with units in Utah, Colorado, Montana, and West Virginia. Other Units Also involved is the 82nd Airborne from Ft. Bragg, N.C., as a major participant. They entered the picture if m vii Medical assistance was required on this member of the Hlind Airborne Unit following drop Monday evening on Cedar Mountain. Soldier was evacuated, via helicopter, for medical treatment. c Military exercises Continued from FrontPage) "Hefore the exercise is complete several air drons will u cnmnlolnW including several at night in total darkness," Col. Iker stated. One of the major bivouac areas will be near Hamilton Fort and much of the training, will take place in that area as well as Cedar Mountain. project. They also will have several helicopters available along with doctors and nurses to provide for the needs of the troops. Add to that two represetnatives from the 123rd Public Information Detachment of Phoenix, Ariz, and the military has brought together a variety of separate units to accomplish ac-complish a single task. "Each will play their role with the ultimate objective of providing for training in communications, logistics the combined efforts of several units for a single purpose," representatives of the exercise indicated. While all the political maneauvering is going on the units will undergo further training in their field of expertize such as rapelling from a helicopter as well as "ex-traction"-a process where troops and personnel are taken from the ground without the helicopters landing. Cedar City involved Its all part of a plan and Cedar City is right in the middle. Things began humming Monday with the arrival of the helicopter units and the Medevac crews. Troops from Ft. Bragg were flown from that base and participated in an air drop on Cedar Mountain late Monday afternoon. |