Army Exercise Huge In Scope Thousands Train At ‘Cascade Sage ‘95’ Using High-Tech Gadgets As Weapons

The U.S. Army is coming to the rescue of the fictional Republic of Mohavi, a small country somewhere in the Atlantic that’s being invaded by the Parumpastanis “freedom fighters.”

Actually, the central Washington scene features 9,694 Fort Lewis soldiers getting a chance to practice attacks and defense on the 261,000-acre Yakima Training Center, which stretches from Yakima to Ellensburg.

It’s all part of “Cascade Sage ‘95,” a two-week military exercise that began Monday.

Col. Larry White pegged the cost at about $10 million. It’s the largest such exercise the center has hosted.

Is it worth the cost?

“The short answer is yes,” said Maj. Marvin Ferreira. “In the real world, when a kid is hit, he’s hit. When he’s dead, he’s dead. Here, they get a chance to learn from their mistakes.

“And no matter how much a soldier kids around about getting hit here, in the back of his mind, he’s thinking, ‘I could be dead.’ They remember that for the rest of their lives,” Ferreira said.

Maj. Phil Evans agreed. “Believe me, a guy only has to die once and it’s engraved on his memory.”

The good guys, the U.S. troops or blue team, have a combination of foot soldiers, tanks and other artillery.

The bad guys, the Parumpastanis or red team, are similarly outfitted.

The soldiers’ guns have laser equipment on the end, and each soldier wears a helmet and jacket fitted with receptors that set off a high-pitched alarm when he is shot.

A key off the rifles turns off the alarm. The guns then won’t work until a special tool removes the key from the off-switch and it is inserted back into the gun.

The Army spent two weeks bringing 2,975 wheeled vehicles and 224 tracked vehicles, including tanks, by rail and convoy from Fort Lewis to the training center.

Unlike a real war, there will be no victor in Cascade Sage, White said.

“Everyone wins and no one wins,” he said. “We’re here to learn.”