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Boston Herald Article
Boston's waterfront will look like a battle zone - with military gunfire, circling choppers and Navy SEALs on the attack - under a Pentagon war-games plan that has the support of a high-powered Southie pol but is still under review by the mayor.
``We need to do this. It's part of the training for our troops,'' U.S. Rep. Stephen F. Lynch (D-South Boston) said yesterday. ``The Navy wants to put its special ops forces through realistic situations, an approximation of what they might face in a major city, what they might face in Iraq.''
But Mayor Thomas M. Menino said yesterday he has not signed off on the idea of having Boston look anything like downtown Baghdad.
``I don't know about any live fire, that's for sure,'' Menino said. ``We're still looking at all the details. We don't want the lives of the people of South Boston and East Boston disrupted by this.''
Some 50 elite Navy SEALs would practice sniper fire with paint balls and perform hostage extractions, water landings, sea-mine evasions and other urban combat maneuvers from June 6 to June 18 as part of the exercises to be conducted by the Naval Special Warfare Development Group.
The Navy is also hoping to land helicopters in urban areas and take advantage of the city's narrow streets to simulate combat situations in labyrinthine neighborhoods, according to Pentagon requests delivered to the city.
The Navy hopes to take over Drydock and Kennedy avenues at Black Falcon Terminal, as well as the Reserved Channel along the Boston Inner Harbor, for the ``urban military training'' games.
Lynch is urging the city to welcome the Navy, saying the military's presence will boost the city's economy and security. On Monday, he wrote to Naval Special Warfare Commander Capt. E.G. Winters, saying he supports efforts to give commandos ``techniques and training necessary to defend themselves and our nation's interests around the globe.''
Navy Special Warfare Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Levitz said the training will not ``cause any problem for local residents.'' The snipers will fire paint balls, and the area the SEALs take over will be confined to the Black Falcon neighborhood, Levitz said. He would not be specific about the exercises, citing homeland security concerns.
``We are training the SEALs in what they need to do overseas,'' he said, adding that similar simulations have been conducted in other cities around the country. ``Every city gives us a different look, and Boston is a great city.''
The city's homeland security director, Carlo Boccia, said he will meet with Navy officials in the coming days to negotiate their proposal. After inquiries from the Herald, Boccia said one thing the city will demand is that live sniper fire and explosives are not part of the Pentagon war games.
``Tentatively, we will not allow any live fire, not allow any explosions,'' he said. ``If they do conduct exercises, it will be in relationship to the port. We would like to get this done as soon as possible, but we are not going to do it unless it satisfies the city's requirements.''
Oh man, I hope the Mayor signs off on this. Seeing the SEALs invading Southie would be an awesome site. It will be interesting to see the tactics and equipment they will be using. To bad they will only be using paint ball guns though.
Boston's waterfront will look like a battle zone - with military gunfire, circling choppers and Navy SEALs on the attack - under a Pentagon war-games plan that has the support of a high-powered Southie pol but is still under review by the mayor.
``We need to do this. It's part of the training for our troops,'' U.S. Rep. Stephen F. Lynch (D-South Boston) said yesterday. ``The Navy wants to put its special ops forces through realistic situations, an approximation of what they might face in a major city, what they might face in Iraq.''
But Mayor Thomas M. Menino said yesterday he has not signed off on the idea of having Boston look anything like downtown Baghdad.
``I don't know about any live fire, that's for sure,'' Menino said. ``We're still looking at all the details. We don't want the lives of the people of South Boston and East Boston disrupted by this.''
Some 50 elite Navy SEALs would practice sniper fire with paint balls and perform hostage extractions, water landings, sea-mine evasions and other urban combat maneuvers from June 6 to June 18 as part of the exercises to be conducted by the Naval Special Warfare Development Group.
The Navy is also hoping to land helicopters in urban areas and take advantage of the city's narrow streets to simulate combat situations in labyrinthine neighborhoods, according to Pentagon requests delivered to the city.
The Navy hopes to take over Drydock and Kennedy avenues at Black Falcon Terminal, as well as the Reserved Channel along the Boston Inner Harbor, for the ``urban military training'' games.
Lynch is urging the city to welcome the Navy, saying the military's presence will boost the city's economy and security. On Monday, he wrote to Naval Special Warfare Commander Capt. E.G. Winters, saying he supports efforts to give commandos ``techniques and training necessary to defend themselves and our nation's interests around the globe.''
Navy Special Warfare Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Levitz said the training will not ``cause any problem for local residents.'' The snipers will fire paint balls, and the area the SEALs take over will be confined to the Black Falcon neighborhood, Levitz said. He would not be specific about the exercises, citing homeland security concerns.
``We are training the SEALs in what they need to do overseas,'' he said, adding that similar simulations have been conducted in other cities around the country. ``Every city gives us a different look, and Boston is a great city.''
The city's homeland security director, Carlo Boccia, said he will meet with Navy officials in the coming days to negotiate their proposal. After inquiries from the Herald, Boccia said one thing the city will demand is that live sniper fire and explosives are not part of the Pentagon war games.
``Tentatively, we will not allow any live fire, not allow any explosions,'' he said. ``If they do conduct exercises, it will be in relationship to the port. We would like to get this done as soon as possible, but we are not going to do it unless it satisfies the city's requirements.''
Oh man, I hope the Mayor signs off on this. Seeing the SEALs invading Southie would be an awesome site. It will be interesting to see the tactics and equipment they will be using. To bad they will only be using paint ball guns though.
