Marines on Okinawa train for jungle war

CAMP GONSALVES, Japan -- Lt. Col. Zene Fearing likes having guests on his 20,000 acres of jungle. He has a lot to show off -- wild pigs, poisonous snakes, exotic bugs.

There are also booby traps, a mock village and nearly two dozen helicopter landing zones.

This remote Marine Corps camp on the northern tip of Japan's Okinawa Island is the only U.S. jungle warfare training center, and plans for stepping up its operations are coming at a significant time.

While recent images of Americans in battle have focused on the deserts and mountains of Afghanistan, President Bush's decision to send Army trainers to help Philippine soldiers against guerrillas suspected of having al-Qaida links is putting U.S. troops in the jungle again.

"There's more emphasis on jungle warfare than ever before," Fearing said. "The jungle had been somewhat neglected since the Vietnam era, and today with the turmoil that is going on in tropical regions, with narcoterrorism, guerrillas, we've taken jungle training much more seriously."

Training here for years

Fearing, the center's commanding officer, stressed that Marines have been training here for years, and he said plans to bolster the camp's role are not specifically related to developments in the Philippines.

The Philippines mission is being handled primarily by the Army, which is deploying hundreds of advisers to the jungle-covered mountains of Basilan Island to help Filipino troops fighting Muslim rebels.

The training center is primarily for Marines, but it is used by all branches of the U.S. military. Fearing refused to say how many personnel from other branches might be here or whether any who trained here are now in the Philippines.

Marines have historically been called on to fight in the jungle more than anywhere else -- about 80 percent of all conflicts in which they have participated have been in jungle or tropical conditions.

As demonstrated by the Vietnam War and the Battle of Okinawa -- one of the last and bloodiest campaigns of World War II -- the jungle is a particularly difficult theater for war.

"Fighting in the jungle is more of a personal fight," Fearing said. "It's very quick and violent."

Each year, more than 15,000 military personnel come to Fearing's jungle to experience conditions in foliage so dense that most firefights will take place at a distance of only 15 to 20 feet, and be over in seconds.

The training ranges from simulated shootouts to survival skills; among other things, the jungle here is infested with three kinds of "habu," a poisonous snake.

Within just yards

Because of the thick underbrush, Marines using rifles equipped with paint-tipped projectiles are often within just yards of their opponent before any shooting begins.

"Things are a lot closer -- you can't get that standoff distance," said Sgt. Mike Anglen, a native of Turner, Ore., who was deployed to Okinawa for training from Camp Lejeune, N.C. "We were really right on top of each other."

Gunnery Sgt. Richard Smith, the center's chief instructor, said it's crucial that troops learn the practical difficulties of navigation and supply in the jungle. Even more important is exposure to that closeness of combat, which adds a considerable psychological edge to jungle fighting, he added.

Okinawa is one of the few places where American combat troops can train for the jungle, and the only one under U.S. control. There are centers run by other governments in Brunei, Malaysia and Brazil.

In two years, about half of the jungle warfare center's land will be returned to Japanese control. It's part of a broad streamlining of the U.S. presence on Okinawa following local outrage over the rape of a schoolgirl in 1995 by three American servicemen.

Still, the center will continue to have ample space for training and for planned improvements in housing and other facilities, Fearing said.

"In two or three years, we will be the premier jungle warfare training center in the world," he said. "If we aren't already."