Royal Marines fight through abandoned hospital complex
Royal Marines entered battle through underground tunnels and fought through an abandoned hospital complex on dense urban operations training in the USA.
Charlie Company of Taunton-based 40 Commando fought alongside the United States Marine Corps (USMC) at the derelict site in Muscatatuck, Indiana.
What was once a secure hospital complex – home to around 3,000 patients and 2,000 staff – has been turned into an extraordinary urban training centre by the US military, and is now a place where the Americans train in warfighting, cyberwarfare and disaster relief operations.
The zone – which looks like a scene out of a post-apocalyptic film – features submerged villages, derailed trains, Iraqi market thoroughfares, Djibouti shanty towns, plus a mock tailors, schools, banks and a TV shop.
Since the 1,000 acre facility was first abandoned ten years ago, the Americans have amped up the complex’s abandoned-feel: adding scrap vehicles, including buses, cars, planes and helicopters, which have been scattered across roads to add obstacles for troops to fight through.
While in Muscatatuck, Charlie Company embedded with a USMC company and, in true commando style, entered combat through underground tunnels while the Americans battled along above on the streets.
The two forces then combined to clear through the hospital to win a close-quarters battle against a realistic enemy peer in the main event of the dense urban operations training deployment.
“The hospital has certainly been one of the most challenging and exciting places we’ve had to work in,” said Marine Pace of Charlie Company.
“It’s a massive, great big building. We found out effectively it just got shut down overnight. The employees left and left everything in situ.
“So we’ve got equipment, we’ve got beds strewn all over the actual hospital itself. You’ve got many different levels to have to clear through.
“You’ve also got a basement with an extensive tunnel network underneath as well.”
During their mission in Indiana, the commandos used the American M4 rifle, which brings advantages to close-quarters battle.
