USMC Camp Pendleton Combat Town
Here on the West Coast, we hear about how much fun it is to play at the United States Military Urban Training (MOUT) sites. We could only watch from afar with barely concealed envy -- until now. And not just any training facility, but the US Marines’ Combat Town at Camp Pendleton, California. Camp Pendleton is located 90 miles south of Los Angeles, California. It is located on the coast and is one of the largest Military bases in California. There is a commercial paintball field located in Camp Pendleton with the usual types of fields and games. However, once or twice a year, the powers-that-be allow the paintballers to play on their Urban Training site, known as Combat Town.
[Caption: The sign states "25 Area Combat Town. Allowable weapons - blanks 5.56mm 7.62mm, smoke devices, pyrotechnics, TNT not to exceed 1/4lbs." ]
Its 5am Saturday morning and John ‘Doc’ Vogel’s wife is dropping him off at my house. After booting him out of their van, she speeds off into the coming dawn (definitely not a morning person). After packing my Bronco with my warehouse of paintball supplies, we’re off on our small, two hour road trip. At the end of the day, the trip back took 3 hours, thanks to Doc’s directions. It's a BIG base. We knew we weren’t in Kansas anymore when we pulled up to the main gate and 2 Marines demanded (well, they asked very polite, but they did have guns) that we show a driver’s license, registration, proof of auto insurance, and our business on the base. Once we had given the counter sign (‘paintball’), we were politely directed to the Combat Town. It had been raining all week (The Curse of El Nino) and we were concerned about the turnout. The weather ‘speculators’ were predicting another deluge but Saturday the sun was shining and it looked to be a beautiful day. The turn-out was about 180 players, which was a perfect number for the size of the town. The site is about 2 to 3 blocks long, and about 1 block wide. The buildings are reinforced concrete with inside stairwells and roof access. Because of Saddam Hussein, the Marines kept up a constant backdrop of Cobra gunships flying back and forth. This added a note of realism to the day.
[Caption: Marty Tripe giving the orientation speech. The castle in the background is where the final battle in the movie ‘Heartbreak Ridge’ with Clint Eastwood was filmed ]
After the usual orientation speech, we were then warned about live ordnance. Although they cleaned up as much as possible, there was still a chance of finding something non-lethal. Later on, I found what appeared to be a GI smoke grenade a little ways away from the town. As instructed, I left it alone and continued with the game. We were then divided up into 3 groups, white, yellow, and blue.
[Caption: Several player on the white team take refuge behind an Armored Personnel Carrier. ]
The first game was a modified version of 3-way capture the flag. It was supposed to be a 2 hour never-ending format, but the blue team quickly overcame the other 2 teams before they could reincarnate any reinforcements.
The next 3 games were Attack and Defend. Each game was 15 minutes long with one team defending and the other two attacking. The defending team was allowed to set themselves and the flag anywhere in the town. In the first game Yellow team was the defender and they were attacked by the White and Blue teams. The attackers concentrated on a few key buildings and were able to obliterate the defenders in under 10 minutes. The second game had the Blue team defending. We decided on a concentrated defense instead of trying to hold the whole town like Yellow. After picking a central 2-story building with roof access, we placed the flag on the roof. We then put 15 players on the 2nd floor, 15 on the ground floor, and the rest in surrounding buildings. The attackers managed to clear the rest of the town and surrounded our ‘base’ like the FBI at Waco. They cleared the ground floor but were then held off by 6 surviving players on the 2nd floor. Doc and I held the stairwell while Z-man and the rest covered the windows. After many attempts to force the stairwell, the attackers managed to boost up a couple of players on the adjoining roof and take out Doc. That left an open angle allowing them to charge the stairwell, resulting in several mutual eliminations. I had multiple goggle hits in a ½ second. The only White player left was Z-man. Just as they started their rush, the whistle blew, ending the game with White as the winner. The 3rd game had the vaunted Blue team defending. They tried the same tactic as the White team but were soon eliminated by a concerted effort to take out everyone on the upper floor of their base.
[Caption: The building to the right was off limits because the Marines used too much C4 plastic explosive in a training exercise. ]
Then, after a one hour lunch break (too long), everyone was divided into 2 teams for the next set of games. The referees then instructed everyone to subdivide into groups of 10 players. When the whistle blew to start the game, the first group of 10 players from each team raced into the town and took up positions. Every 3 minutes, the referees would release the next group of 10 players from each team. It was an interesting and fun game that changed a little every time another group of 10 stormed onto the field. As the last group of 10, we watched in envy as each group went out. After barely winning in the last few seconds, we were determined to change the pace of the next game. Our group of 10 was the first out and we managed to capture one end of a key, central building. About half way down this 200 foot building, I noticed a hole in the wall that everyone else was ignoring. Curious, I stuck my head (and gun, of course) into the hole and immediately realized the room was filled with the opposing team! I was able to eliminate 3 or 4 until a storm of paint drove me back. When I looked 30 seconds later, the room had been cleared. After that, it was just a case of mopping up the stragglers.
[Caption: Several players attempting to assault a building. Notice the powder burn on the wall and the pile of concertina wire to the left. ]
After one of the most fun days of paintball in a long time, we packed our bags and headed for the Interstate. If you are interested in playing at Camp Pendleton or want to find out about the next Combat Town day at Camp Pendleton, call 800-899-9957.