Toledo mayor pulls plug on Marine training

[unhappycamper]

Toledo mayor pulls plug on Marine training
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Feb 9, 2008 15:41:58 EST

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The mayor of Toledo, Ohio, pulled the plug on a planned urban warfare training session in his city involving western Michigan-based Marine reservists.

The Grand Rapids Press and WOOD-TV report about 200 Marines returned Friday night to Grand Rapids after riding buses to and from the Toledo area, about 140 miles away.

Brian Schwartz, a spokesman for Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner, says “people were frightened” by past training.

Maj. Dan Whisnant of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines, says it was “extremely disappointing.” The training was planned for Friday and Saturday at an abandoned 10-story office structure.

The Marines last trained in Toledo in February 2006, before an Iraq deployment that year.


Article at: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/02/ap_marinesbooted_080209/

[thepurpose]

1. Homeland Security and DoD are doing a bang up job, I'm sure the Marines took it upon themselves to

just show up and start the training. I don't fault the Marines or really the Mayor, but this type of training in and with civilians takes civilian leadership at the top working with local officials so they know what the heck is going on and why.

[rakeeb]

2. since the Marine commander would not have signed off on the

scheduled training until he saw that all local coordinations had been completed including but not limited to; training areas, billeting, chow, transportation and fuel, and some kind of risk assessment approved by the local authority responsible for the area to be used for training, all at least 90 days prior to the scheduled training, I'm pretty sure the Marines didn't just take it upon themselves to show up and start the training.