Air Assault Keys Start of War Games for 35,000

More than 700 paratroopers dropped to desert targets Saturday in the opening assault of “Gallant Eagle ‘86,” a huge military exercise to prepare troops for combat conditions in the Middle East.

The weeklong mock battles in the Southern California desert, which will involve about 35,000 troops, will test how well the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines can coordinate their efforts under combat conditions.

“We believe the best war deterrent is being the best combat-ready force in the world,” said Army spokesman Maj. James Tillman.

Only four of the 742 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division, based at Ft. Bragg, N.C., suffered minor injuries in the operation, which began just after midnight, he said.

In similar exercises in 1982, six soldiers died and 150 were injured because of unusually high winds during a paratrooper drop.

Headquartered at March Air Force Base in Riverside, the exercises are using several other desert military facilities and are being supported by air bases in five western states.

“Gallant Eagle” is being held in the same desert region where Gen. George Patton trained his troops to fight those of German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in World War II.

The biennial exercises involve troops and support personnel drawn from all over the United States under the control of the U.S. Central Command.

The games end next weekend with “an impressive array” of live fire air-and-ground exercises, Tillman said.

“They’ll be using real bullets, but they’ll be firing into an impact area, not at each other,” he said.

Fighter and bomber pilots will practice strafing and bombing enemy positions, while crews of transport planes will hone their skills in landing, refueling and getting airborne again as quickly as possible. Several helicopter assaults also are scheduled.