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TRAINING MEDIA FOR WAR
By KATHLEEN T. RHEM
WASHINGTON, NOVEMBER 22, 2002 – The
scene atop Cardiac Hill at Marine Corps Base
Quantico, Va., was somewhat surreal today. A
group of about 30 media representatives were
poised at the summit waiting to photograph
and interview trainees on a road march.
But as the trainees hiked into view, it was quickly
apparent this was no ordinary military unit. Nearly
60 reporters in a ragtag mix of military protective
equipment and civilian outdoor apparel tromped
up the hill with a dozen or so Marines and soldiers
offering directions along the way.
The media on the march were completing the
final leg of the seven-day Joint Military Contingency
Training for Media course. They had spent
the past week with the Navy and Marine Corps
gaining a familiarity for military operations. The
last steps of the way was this five-mile road march,
carrying 25-pound packs, complete with
“ambushes” and a “gas attack.”
The media waiting for them atop the hill had
been invited to get a taste of the training and interview
their counterparts. Most spoke freely of the
situation’s irony.
All irony was forgotten, however, when the
Marines launched the first simulated attack. The
trainees dove for cover, seeking the best possible
hiding the woods had to offer. They got even more
serious when smoke began wafting around them
in a simulated poison gas attack.
Some got their protective masks on like seasoned
military pros; other struggled and lamented
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that they’d be dead in a real attack. But all seemed
to realize the seriousness of what they were learning.
“The most useful training by far was the nuclear,
biological and chemical training,” ABC News’s Jim
Scuitto said. He has covered military operations in
Afghanistan and is currently based in the tiny Persian
Gulf nation of Qatar.
The media trainees assumed they were preparing
to cover a war with Iraq, even though military
officials are quick to remind all that no decision has
been made regarding using military force in Iraq.
“The one thing that will be different about this
war will be that (chemical) threat,” Scuitto said. He
said the briefings on different types of chemical
and biological agents and their symptoms were
particularly useful.
The “confidence chamber,” in which participants
were exposed to tear gas to demonstrate how military
protective masks work, brought the seriousness
of the potential threat to focus for a lot of people.
“Even when you do it right, you’re likely to get a
taste of (the gas). It gets into your skin, and a little
bit is going to get down your throat invariably,”
Scuitto said. “That just shows how dangerous the
environment can be, because even when you’re
prepared, and even when you’re forewarned, it’s
not necessarily completely safe. That’s a sobering
thought, but that’s also useful because it’s the kind
of thing you have to be prepared for.”
Reporters lauded other training as well. “We
landed in a hot (landing zone), figured out where