Reply #9: original MountainX story

[G_j]

(this one I missed somehow)

http://www.mountainx.com/news/2004/0901military.php

Sep 1, 2004 / vol 11 iss 5

Ground zero: Asheville?
Unannounced military training alarms city residents

by Jon Elliston

Some Asheville residents felt they were living in a war zone one recent evening, as explosions and gunfire echoed through downtown for several hours. Beginning around 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 19, three military helicopters – a hulking Black Hawk and two smaller MH-6 Little Birds – circled the city, touching down atop the Buncombe County Courthouse to drop off commandos. With little to no warning of the populace, Asheville had hosted a military training exercise.

And city residents weren't the only ones caught off guard by the mock assault: Key local officials seem to have been similarly in the dark about the exercise.

"I don't have any information," said Asheville Public Information Officer Lauren Bradley, referring questions about the matter to the city manager. "I probably was in the same boat as you. I was in my bed last night and heard helicopters circling overhead and thought, what on earth is going on?"

For his part, City Manager Jim Westbrook said he had no information on the exercise "other than the fact that it was put on." He says he was informed in advance that it would occur but was given no details. "The city tries to cooperate with the military anytime they need training, in case they need a road blocked off or something like that. Other than that, we didn't have anything to do with it." Westbrook is no stranger to military operations: A Vietnam veteran, the city manager also served in the Army Reserve during his 30-year military career, retiring as a full colonel in 1997.

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