U S Marines practice parachuting at Califor nia’s Camp Pendleton and other locations
FORCE FACTS Among the more challenging advanced training ex ercises are free-fall parachute operations categorized as high altitude low opening HALO or high altitude high opening HAHO
D N A M M O C S N O I T A R E P O L A I C E P S s e c r o f s p r o c e n r a m i 8 INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION It’s about 2 30 a m in a remote mountain village in Afghanistan Suddenly the silence is shattered by the sounds of revved-up dirt bike engines Anyone who sticks his head out the door might be terrified by the sight of men many of them bearded dressed in combat gear and carrying up to 50 pounds 22 7 kg of heavy-duty weaponry gunning their bikes down the village’s main street If that person is a peace ful villager no problem But if he is a member of the Taliban his life expectancy is probably measured in seconds i m a r n e C o r p s f o r c e s S P E C I A L O P E R A T I O N S C O M M A N D 9 These bikers are members of the Marine Special Operations Command or MARSOC an elite special force within the already elite Marine Corps and they are turning the tables on the enemy For years the Taliban would appear out of nowhere on their dirt bikes plant improvised explosive devices IEDs or fire at American troops and flee to their hideaways where they would prepare to strike again In early 2012 MARSOC de cided to fight fire with fire Several dozen operators as American special forces per sonnel are often called learned to ride dirt bikes some of them identical to the ones the Taliban used over rough mountain trails maintaining control during high-speed ascents and descents avoiding obstacles such as large stones and tree roots and roar ing across swift-flowing creeks No one expected these Hells Angels on steroids to single-handedly defeat the Taliban Rather the team could win a series of small victories by using its enemy’s tactics against them another example of MARSOC’s characteristic flexibility and creativity ZzZ MARSOC operates in rough unfamiliar terrain that is home only to terrorist camps
