Debunked: Fake City / "US Army Trains for Martial Law In US."

[Lode]

An article appeared in The Telegraph reporting that a whole American style town was build recently for the US army to train in. According to commander Col. John P. Petkosek it was build as a training ground "to be ready for what comes next." He does not specify what that "next" might be. "This is a place where you can be creative and come up with solutions to problems we don't even know we have yet" he extends.

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.1319426,-77.3047326,1209m/data=!3m1!1e3 (http://archive.is/sTdKw)

Original Army Press Release: "Asymmetric Warfare Training Center opens at Fort A.P. Hill"
http://www.army.mil/article/118796/Asymmetric_Warfare_Training_Center_opens_at_Fort_A_P__Hill/ (http://archive.is/ADpfd)

FORT A.P. HILL, Va. -- The Asymmetric Warfare Group officially opened its $90.1 million Asymmetric Warfare Training Center here during a brief ribbon cutting ceremony on Jan. 24.

The complex features state-of-the art training and range facilities that support the AWG mission of rapid material and non-material solution development as well as adaptability and resiliency training.

The 300-acre training complex includes a headquarters, barracks, administrative, training and maintenance facilities, an Urban Area, a 12-mile Mobility Range, an 800 meter Known Distance Range, a light demolitions range and an indoor range.

There's also a mosque, a soccer stadium, a subway station complete with subway cars and a train station with real rail cars.

Col. John P. Petkosek, the commander of AWG and the featured speaker, said the new training center will help the organization accomplish its mission of identifying shortfalls, developing answers and solving problems.

"That's what the Asymmetric Warfare Training Center is all about. This is the place where we can be creative, where we can come up with solutions for problems that we don't even know we have yet," Petkosek said.

"This is where we'll look at solutions for the future--material solutions and non-material solutions…anything from how you're going to operate in a subterranean environment to how you dismount a Humvee to avoid an IED strike. All of these things are the things we do at this facility."

(Site plans attached)


The Telegraph: "US army builds fake city to shoot at during training"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...ds-fake-city-to-shoot-at-during-training.html (http://archive.is/IPsXM)

It's not a new thing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_warfare#Urban_warfare_training

Armed forces seek to train their units for those circumstances in which they are to fight: built up, urban areas are no exception. Several countries have created simulated urban training zones. The British Army has established an "Afghan village" within its Stanford Battle Area and the French Army has built several urban training areas in its CENZUB facility.

During World War II, as preparation for the Allied invasion of Normandy, the population of the English village of Imber was evacuated compulsorily to provide an urban training area for United States forces. The facility has been retained, despite efforts by the displaced people to recover their homes, and was used for British Army training for counter-insurgency operations in Northern Ireland. A newer purpose-built training area has been created at Copehill Down, some 3 miles from Imber.

This report has been picked up by Infowars and commented on under the title "Breaking: US Army Trains for Martial Law In US"
http://www.infowars.com/breaking-us-army-trains-for-martial-law-in-us/ (http://archive.is/VD8as)

The arguments seem strong in support of the suggestion that a possible martial law situation might be ensuing, especially related to gun control measures in view of other very recent reports:

(CT Gun Owners discussion moved to: https://www.metabunk.org/threads/connecticut-gun-owners-refusing-to-register-their-guns.3111/ )

The point is not so much who claims it, but whether the claim that martial law in the US is now being prepared for in this training facility is bunkum.

[Admin: the above post has been modified to incorporate some material from the thread below]

 

[Pete Tar]

While there is no real indication it's specifically for martial law, some training in martial law procedures has to happen regardless doesn't it - or do they just say 'martial law' and everyone knows what to do?

This sort of training will always be happening somewhere and it will always be seen as sign that martial law is imminent - it's a perception thing that is hard to debunk one way or the other.

I did find this detail from a year old article...

http://www.occupycorporatism.com/military-training-drills-resume-in-preparation-for-martial-law/
By training in American cities, the armed forces can realize maneuvers and special considerations that are needed to control urban infrastructure in the case of civil disturbance and insurrection. Having foreknowledge of the people living in the specified cities that are marked for control assist in the "critical operational success" of not only "knowing the enemy" but also the ability to retain a level of concealment and surprise.

When the US Army is "called upon to operate in villages, towns, and cities their directive will be to "neutralize American citizen's technological capabilities" using "sophisticated intelligence equipment" and advanced tactical training.

Contained within the US Army Military Police training manual for Civil Disturbance Operations are outlines describing how the US military will use the arsenal at their disposal to quell domestic riots, confiscate firearms and kill Americans during times of mass civil unrest.

The explicit use of "deadly force" when confronting "dissidents" is clearly stated with the refusal of a "warning shot" and the directives toward weapons that rioters or demonstrators will experience in the name of continuity of government.

I don't know if this is new and unprecedented though - the concept of martial law has existed for a long time.

...

There's a persistent belief that 'the man' is going to call down martial law on the population just for the hell of it, because citizens are such troublesome things they'd be better off without, but that belief is based on an emotional apocalyptic fantasy, I can't see any rational reason to really think that.

 

[David Fraser]

Infowars claims there is no mosque. This certainly looks mosquey to me.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/armyengineersnorfolk/12223943654/in/set-72157632231810986

 

[Pete Tar]

The point is not so much who claims it, but whether the claim that martial law in the US is now being prepared for in this training facility is bunkum.

It seems not unlikely that martial law will be one of the scenarios they train for in this facility.

 

[Robert Tankersley]

While there is no real indication it's specifically for martial law, some training in martial law procedures has to happen regardless doesn't it - or do they just say 'martial law' and everyone knows what to do?

As seeing first hand the events of the 1992 LA Riots I would hope that they would plan a lot better than what was in place at that time. It was a crazy time.

 

[David Fraser]

I just wonder what urban environment Infowars thinks it should be built to represent especially given the withdrawal from Afghanistan has been known for some time. From looking at the facilities it looks like they have considered worldwide urban situations going back decades and integrated as many as possible. I don't know about the US but in the UK a training facility like this would be made avaiable to civilian services as well.

However one must think that the military has gone to a great deal of effort and expense just to train up a few soldiers to enforce martial law. Anyway time will tell I guess.

 

[NoParty]

Infowars claims there is no mosque. This certainly looks mosquey to me.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/armyengineersnorfolk/12223943654/in/set-72157632231810986

Well, yeah, but did you hear the muezzin?
That fraud couldn't carry an azan if his camel's life depended on it!

 

[Mick West]

It's training for urban warfare. Other countries, like Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, and every other country in the world have urban areas.

The subway carriages most likely carry the same logo as the Washington DC subway because they were acquired as surplus from there.

Since there's zero evidence this is to trains for martial law specifically in the US, and the "fake city" is small and representative of any city, I'm going to make this one as "debunked".

Infowars claiming something without evidence is not something that requires counter evidence. It's enough to note that there's no actual evidence.

 

[Mick West]

Some larger images of the site from the video:

There are several other building shown in video and photographs. However those are real buildings in a site a mile to the West: training classrooms, arms storage facilities, an indoor range, and other training facilities.

 

[Mick West]

Regarding the subway cars:

These are retired Washington DC Metro 1000 Series Rohr cars, the oldest operating cars on the DC metro.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Metro_rolling_stock

Specifically it's cars 1090 and 1091, which were involved in a derailment, Aug 30th 2013, as they were on their way to the scrapyard after being damaged in fire.
http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=75&t=152401
http://washingtonexaminer.com/railcar-fire-shuts-down-metro-at-silver-spring/article/2529701

 

[David Fraser]

The subway is touch of pure genius.

 

[Mackdog]

They have these fake cities in other countries too. Like the SOFEX city in Jordan where they train for tactical situations. It seems like its bigger and more complex that the one in Virginia.
I just watched this documentary the other day. Skip to 4:45 for the footage of the fake city where they train.



Also, I remember seeing old videos of martial law training that were made 15 to 20 years ago and martial law hasn't happened yet. I usually just ignore the people who keep crying wolf about things like this.

 

[Mick West]

Continuing my nerdy train identification. This is the above-gound train, behind the fake fire-station

It's an old Chicago Metra Pullman car, build in the 1950s, and now withdrawn from service. Several of them are in rail museums.

http://www.chicagorailfan.com/rosmetpp.html (http://archive.is/AvF0W)

 

[Mark Barrington]

Didn't know you were a trainspotter, Mick. It kind of fits.

 

[Mick West]

In Britain they simply kicked out the inhabitants of an actual village to save time:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imber

Imber is an uninhabited village in part of the British Army's training grounds on the Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England. It is situated in an isolated area of the Plain, about 2.5 miles (4 km) west of the A360 road between Tilshead and West Lavington. The entire civilian population was evicted in 1943 to provide an exercise area for American troops preparing for the invasion of Europe during the Second World War. After the war villagers were not allowed to return to their homes. The village, which is still classed as a civil parish, remains under the control of the Ministry of Defence despite several attempts by former residents to return. Non-military access is limited to several open days a year.[1]

 

[Mick West]

Didn't know you were a trainspotter, Mick. It kind of fits.

I'm not. I'm just good at Google. I hesitated to post these, as I don't want people to think I'm a trainspotter

 

[Landru]

I'm not. I'm just good at Google. I hesitated to post these, as I don't want people to think I'm a trainspotter

In the US they're called foamers.

 

[Jazzy]

I don't want people to think I'm a trainspotter

Too late for that.

 

[Lode]

Thank you all for contributing so fast at putting my worries about this issue mostly at rest. I say "mostly" as I haven't seen yet how the non-registry of assault weapons issue is going to be reacted to further on.

Not that any of it would affect me in Amsterdam, far away from the "crime" scene...

I'm amazed at how much detailed info some of you found and posted so quickly! Especially Mick.

Thanks much again.

 

[Mick West]

Thank you all for contributing so fast at putting my worries about this issue mostly at rest. I say "mostly" as I haven't seen yet how the non-registry of assault weapons issue is going to be reacted to further on.

Not that any of it would affect me in Amsterdam, far away from the "crime" scene...

I'm amazed at how much detailed info some of you found and posted so quickly! Especially Mick.

Thanks much again.

You're welcome.

I think the non-registering assault weapons is a similar non-story. Different topic though. Actually, I'm going to excise it into another thread.

(CT Gun Owners discussion moved to: https://www.metabunk.org/threads/connecticut-gun-owners-refusing-to-register-their-guns.3111/ )

 

[Lode]

You sure are on top of these things!

 

[David Fraser]

In Britain they simply kicked out the inhabitants of an actual village to save time:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imber

Imber is an uninhabited village in part of the British Army's training grounds on the Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England. It is situated in an isolated area of the Plain, about 2.5 miles (4 km) west of the A360 road between Tilshead and West Lavington. The entire civilian population was evicted in 1943 to provide an exercise area for American troops preparing for the invasion of Europe during the Second World War. After the war villagers were not allowed to return to their homes. The village, which is still classed as a civil parish, remains under the control of the Ministry of Defence despite several attempts by former residents to return. Non-military access is limited to several open days a year.[1]

Just for interest Imber was not the only village. In Norfolk 6 villages were cleared to form the Stanford Training Area.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_Training_Area

 

[Mark Barrington]

Just for interest Imber was not the only village. In Norfolk 6 villages were cleared to form the Stanford Training Area.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_Training_Area

One of the issues in the American revolution was the British policy of quartering troops in private residences. The US Constitution prohibits the practice, so I doubt it would ever happen here.

• The Third Amendment to the United States Constitution, expressly prohibited the military from peacetime quartering of troops without consent of the owner of the house. A product of their times, the relevance of the Acts and the Third Amendment has greatly declined since the era of the American Revolution, having been the subject of only one case in over 200 years (Engblom v. Carey).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartering_Acts

 

[Mick West]

One of the issues in the American revolution was the British policy of quartering troops in private residences. The US Constitution prohibits the practice, so I doubt it would ever happen here.

• The Third Amendment to the United States Constitution, expressly prohibited the military from peacetime quartering of troops without consent of the owner of the house. A product of their times, the relevance of the Acts and the Third Amendment has greatly declined since the era of the American Revolution, having been the subject of only one case in over 200 years (Engblom v. Carey).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartering_Acts

I think though that eminent domain might still be a legal path to the same end result. And note that's peacetime - the UK instance were in wartime.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eminent_domain#Constitution

The Fifth Amendment imposes limitations on the exercise of eminent domain: the taking must be for public use and just compensation must be paid. Some historians have suggested that these limitations on the taking power were inspired by the need to permit the army to secure mounts, fodder and provisions from local ranchers and the perceived need to assure them compensation for such takings. Similarly, soldiers forcibly sought housing in whatever homes were near their military assignments. To address the latter problem, the Third Amendment was enacted in 1791 as part of the US Constitution's Bill of Rights. It provided that the quartering of soldiers on private property could not take place in peacetime without the landowner's consent. It also required that, inwartime, established law had to be followed in housing troops on private property. Presumably, this would mandate "just compensation," a requirement for the exercise of eminent domain in general per the Fifth Amendment.[6] All U.S. states have legislation specifying eminent domain procedures within their respective territories.[7]

Of course there's no foreseeable need for such a thing. Vastly simpler to build their own to spec, like this.

 

[Mark Barrington]

I think though that eminent domain might still be a legal path to the same end result. And note that's peacetime - the UK instance were in wartime.


Of course there's no foreseeable need for such a thing. Vastly simpler to build their own to spec, like this.

OK, I probably misread the above posts. I thought the Brits had just cleared out the citizens to take over a village temporarily for training, and returned it to them after they were done. Obviously, for the purposes of training, a real town would be preferable to a fake one, but the differences are not significant enough to worry about if the training village is well-designed.

Edit: completely misread. Shouldn't try to clean house and Metabunk at the same time.

 

[Alhazred The Sane]

I just wonder what urban environment Infowars thinks it should be built to represent especially given the withdrawal from Afghanistan has been known for some time. From looking at the facilities it looks like they have considered worldwide urban situations going back decades and integrated as many as possible. I don't know about the US but in the UK a training facility like this would be made avaiable to civilian services as well.

However one must think that the military has gone to a great deal of effort and expense just to train up a few soldiers to enforce martial law. Anyway time will tell I guess.

There were marines here in Helsinki a few weeks ago, being trained by Finnish commandos in urban manouvers in sub-zero conditions. I managed to walk smack into the middle of it while I was on my way to the store for some beers.

http://www.helsinkitimes.fi/finland...aking-winter-warfare-training-in-finland.html

 

[Mick West]

The DoD does conduct some exercises in non-military areas:

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/04/27/tinl-a27.html

The US Department of Defense conducted urban warfare training drills in Tinley Park, Illinois, a southwestern suburb of Chicago, during the nights of April 23 and 24. The drills, conducted in coordination with the Illinois state government, came a week after the police shutdown of the city of Boston following the marathon bombings.

Similar exercises have been conducted recently in Miami, Florida and Houston, Texas. Stories emerged in local media only after frightened residents called in reports of explosions. It is not known how many such operations have been conducted in other cities.

The drills held in Tinley Park took place at the now-closed Tinley Park Mental Health Center. The center was shut down by Illinois Democratic Governor Pat Quinn last June as part of a series of budget cuts that have targeted education, mental health and other social services in the state. That a facility once devoted to social services has been so quickly converted into a training ground for military operations reveals the ruling elite's attitude toward the basic needs of the population.

Since its closing, the facility has been the site of numerous training exercises conducted by local, state and federal police agencies. According to Tinley Park's director of emergency management, Pat Carr, the military exercise "simulated live fire, explosive training and helicopter operations."

 

[Mick West]

Copehill Down is a much bigger fake town in the UK:

http://www.kuriositas.com/2013/08/copehill-down-sleepy-english-village.html

 

[Soulfly]

The FBI has had a fake town since 1987 called Hogan's Alley. It is located in Quantico, Va. The bank gets robbed at least once a day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hogan's_Alley_(FBI)

 

[David Fraser]

Copehill Down is a much bigger fake town in the UK:

http://www.kuriositas.com/2013/08/copehill-down-sleepy-english-village.html

I went to Copehill when it was still shiney. The meticulous detail was awesome. Having been to Germany a few times the realism of the place was impressive down down to road signs and even German style toilets. It was one of the best FIBUA experiences especially on one exercise with German speaking "civilians". We used it before going to Bosnia as well.

The necessity for training facilities like this can never be over rated.

 

[Mick West]

There's a fake Afghan village in Norfolk, UK:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/welcome-to-afghanistan-no-norfolk-1919462.html

I think the reason the A.P. Hill training ground is raising suspicion is that is not specifically a foreign location. Of course it's not really a US location either, just a generic urban environment. And it's rather telling that one of the elements that occupies the largest area is a Mosque. And it's a soccer field, not an American Football or baseball field.

 

[derwoodii]

Each week these Fema death camps and pending US Martial law claims are made and each week nothing becomes of them

Whats more alarming are the posted Molon labe comments within the articles that reveals a greater real home town problem than the hypothetical toy town here

 

[Mick West]

each week these Fema death camps and pending US Martial law claims are made and each week nuthing becomes of them

Whats more alarming are the posted Molon labe comments within the articles that reveals a greater real home town problem than the hypothetical toy town here

Molon labe. New word of the day. I'd never heard that before.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molon_labe

In America, both the original Greek phrase and its English translation are often heard from pro-Second Amendment activists as a defense of the right to keep and bear arms. It began to appear on web sites in the late 1990s and early 2000s.[7] In the Second Amendment or firearms freedom context, the phrase expresses the notion that the person uttering the phrase is a strong believer in these ideals and will not surrender their firearms to anyone, including governmental authority.[8] Challenge coins often used by military service men have even been created with the Molon Labe text and images.[9]

 

[Lobster Johnson]

Presumably they would also use that kind of set up to practice evacuation scenarios too wouldn't they? It seem to me that a martial law event would not be the sum total of exercises rehearsed. In addition to that if there was going to be some kind of civilian culling event going on, couldn't they just use existing facilities? Surely it wouldn't take too much rehearsal time to show a trained soldier how to take out a housewife wielding a handgun. This looks to be aimed at an urban war zone/disaster type environment.

 

[jvnk08]

Is the concern here that it doesn't look middle eastern enough or something? Funny how InfoWars makes a point out of the lack of a Mosque(even though there is one). What do we expect troops to be training in if not environments that are similar to where they might be deployed? As Mick points out this seems to be a pretty generic urban environment, nothing about it invokes "American" to me(the people saying otherwise would probably know this if they had ever set foot out of the country in the last 20-30 years, seeing as most urban spaces in developed countries look like this). I'd expect any developed country's military to have at least one such facility. It doesn't have to be training for an invasion or "taking over" the space either, such a place would be immensely useful for emergency response training of any kind.

Interesting sidenote, Jordan has one of the largest such facilities in the world, known as the King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Center.

The Urban Area contains a wide range of urban and village facilities (56) to simulate realistic neighborhoods, to include: embassy, residential areas, commercial and industrial facilities, and government buildings; a public square; villas, apartment complexes, and servants quarters; community center, garage, gas station, and shops; light industrial areas; office complexes; and water reservoirs.

Airbus 300 houses a full-scale A300 aircraft model and control tower with a helicopter landing pad. The A300 also includes some B777 aircraft features and takes full advantage of the battlefield effects controlled by the Range Operations Control Center. This includes initiating targets to stand up from their seats, introduction of smells/sounds of the battlefield and video/audio capture of all training inside and out.

The close-quarters battle (CQB) house is a two-story armored facility with an adjoining three-story tower that provides room-to-room combat practice using live fire. Designed to train for assaults on a major stronghold using a variety of methods including simultaneous foot, vehicle and helicopter approaches. Assaults can be conducted using entry techniques on multiple levels including assaults through multiple floors and rooms.

The Method of Entry (MOE) facility is a suite of facilities to allow the tactical training of method of entry techniques. The facilities contained in this area include various breaching stations, steel cutting station, the Method Of Entry Building and a space for construction to meet client's specific request (mud walls, etc). The MOE building is a two-story structure used to train forces in methods of entry techniques.

The Commando Tower is also a platform for wall climbing, fast roping and rappelling. Training courses for this zone include Moving Target Engagement, Falling Plates, Grouping and Zeroing, and Weapon Testing.

The Driver Track enables Non-Emergency Vehicle Operations (NEVO) to safely instruct and practice non-conventional driving techniques, such as evasive maneuvering, high-speed turn negotiation, skid control, and vehicular pursuit. The range is designed to allow travel in both directions, so that a trainee can practice making turns and maneuvers in opposite directions. Vehicles and maintenance provided on-site.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KASOTC

https://www.google.com/maps/place/32°01'55.2"N 35°58'30.0"E/@32.032,35.975,5320m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0?hl=en

 

[NoParty]

Molon labe. New word of the day. I'd never heard that before.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molon_labe

In America, both the original Greek phrase and its English translation are often heard from pro-Second Amendment activists as a defense of the right to keep and bear arms. It began to appear on web sites in the late 1990s and early 2000s.[7] In the Second Amendment or firearms freedom context, the phrase expresses the notion that the person uttering the phrase is a strong believer in these ideals and will not surrender their firearms to anyone, including governmental authority.[8] Challenge coins often used by military service men have even been created with the Molon Labe text and images.[9]

I live in an area where wannabe badasses wear "Molon labe" T-shirts…ever since the movie 300…
a bit similar to an 18 year-old getting a tat in Japanese that he can repeatedly explain to the unenlightened…

 

[Mick West]

It seems to be quite a thing in the more intense gun subcultures.

And I'm not putting this up as mockery. I think it's important to understand why people get caught up in stories like this. Why they take the Alex Jones spin seriously. It's a huge part of their identity, basically a religion. Now lots of people think they are being hyperbolic - but for them it's a passionately held belief that guns equal freedom, and government control of guns equals tyranny. Many of the people involved are quite intelligent and well spoken, but with just a radically different world view to other people.

 

[deirdre]

Presumably they would also use that kind of set up to practice evacuation scenarios too wouldn't they?

or quarantine scenarios too.

 

[Mick West]

Just randomly turned on Alex Jones Live, and he was complaining that this Infowars article by Paul Joseph Watson was "too journalistic", and that it was giving the impression that there were two sides of the argument when really everyone knows the facility is only for practicing taking away our guns.

http://www.infowars.com/u-s-army-builds-fake-city-in-virginia-to-practice-military-occupation/

While the city was ostensibly built to prepare U.S. troops for the occupation of cities abroad, some will undoubtedly fear that the real intention could be closer to home. Although the site includes a mosque, the town looks American in every other way, with signs in English.

He was probably a bit annoyed that Watson's Infowars article (above) mentioned there was a mosque, whereas the earlier Infowars article (below) said it was a church. (There's actually a church and a mosque)
http://www.infowars.com/breaking-us-army-trains-for-martial-law-in-us/

Unlike the urban training centers we've seen before where the buildings are just empty concrete block structures or even plywood facades, this town is very detailed with glass windows, handicap parking signs, speed limit signs, logos on the subway that match the DC metro, and even a small town steeple (that was originally claimed to be a mosque). They've made it clear in manual after manual, scenario after scenario that they perceive the enemy as gun owners, limited government conservatives, libertarians and Christians.

 

[Mick West]

I've attached site plans to the OP. CS-102 is the urban area. CS-101 is the training and admin area.

Everything is labeled, but you have to zoom in.

https://www.metabunk.org/attachments/cs-101_overall_layout_plan-pdf.6089/
https://www.metabunk.org/attachments/cs-102_sheet_layout_plan-pdf.6088/

Source: https://secure.smartbidnet.com/External/PublicPlanRoom.aspx?Id=24285&e=1

Here's an easier to view file. Still needs zooming:
https://www.metabunk.org/attachments/cs-102_sheet_layout_plan-crop-png.6091/