It features grocery stores, shops, petrol stations, even a hospital.
Part of the town is built on a grid – like most US cities – while another ‘district’ mirrors the winding, narrow lanes and confused streets of European and Middle Eastern towns. Twentynine Palms’ pièce de resistance is Range 220, a mock town, dubbed Hidalgo by the troops. The US Marines have thrown two battalions, plus Harrier jets, Huey and Cobra battlefield helicopters and drones into the ‘battles’.Īrtillery and mortars “dropped some lead” on the expansive ranges after first making use of hi-tech simulators infantry moved through ‘kill houses’ to practise house-to-house/close quarters battle commando and Army engineers carried out demolitions and breaches Vikings carried mortar units into battle for live shoots to support troops attacking on the ground and two five-day urban battles, with British search and attack dogs from the Royal Veterinary Corps, helping the commandos clear out houses.
The US Marines send their units through the combat range at least once every two years, while all Royal Marines formations about to take on the mantel of Lead Commando Group – sent into action around the globe at immediate notice by the government when needed – pass through the training ground.Ĥ5 Commando are about to take on that role for the next two years and the Arbroath marines form the bulk of the Brits taking part in the six-week workout, Exercise Green Dagger.īut they been joined by the gunners of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers, Bravo Company from 40 Commando based near Taunton, and the Royal Marines’ Viking armoured vehicles from Chivenor in North Devon. The 998 square miles of exercise area at Twentynine Palms is roughly twice the size of Greater Manchester – allow troops to unleash live firepower on a scale impossible in the UK. But with more conventional threats re-emerging, marines on both sides of the pond are re-evaluating tactics – prompting this ‘peer versus peer’ training in the Mojave Desert.
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