https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/15/weve-got-drone-swarms-dirty-bombs-radar-jamming-the-fake-town-where-america-practises-for-war
The battle simulations put the military’s technology to the test, too. Being in such a remote location, where the army controls the airspace up to 8,850 metres (29,000ft), allows the NTC to do things such as jam the radar, GPS and radio signals of its aircraft (to the occasional annoyance of Nasa’s deep space communications complex next door). Back on the ground, it operates a fake cable news channel, on which officers are subjected to aggressive TV interviews, trained to win the media war as well as the physical one. Recently, it even introduced internal social media networks, called Tweeter and Fakebook, where mock civilians spread fake news about the battles – social media being the latest weapon in the arsenal of modern war.
In one recent exercise, the enemy knew they were about to lose their town to US forces, so they launched a (pretend) rocket attack on the town and its civilians, but filmed it in a way that made it look as if the Americans were responsible. “They put it on social media and created this story about the US forces destroying their city,” says Taylor. “So we simulated the White House calling, demanding to know what happened. The public affairs officer did a pretty good job, getting all the data from our radar systems and tracking every round that was fired, to prove it wasn’t us.” Contemporary warfare, he adds, is about being first with the truth. “That’s what we’ve seen in Ukraine: in the opening days of the fight, they did a masterful job of winning the narrative and being first with the truth.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/15/weve-got-drone-swarms-dirty-bombs-radar-jamming-the-fake-town-where-america-practises-for-war
A search on an employment website reveals numerous job ads for these roles, all run by private companies, including one for “professional civilians on the battlefield” required to “enable military units to simulate real-world cultural interactions” – with Arabic or Russian language skills required. The actors are bussed here to play the roles of villagers, governors, merchants, shepherds, imams and doctors, often living on the base during their employment. It has become a big business. An NBC news investigation in 2019 found that this military role-playing industry has ballooned since the early 2000s, now comprising a network of 256 companies across the US, receiving more than $250m a year in government contracts. The actors are often recent refugees, having fled one real-world conflict only to enter another, simulated one. Some have said that working 12 hours a day, up to two weeks at a time, can make it easy for them to forget they are in a simulation.
A search on an employment website reveals numerous job ads for these roles, all run by private companies, including one for “professional civilians on the battlefield” required to “enable military units to simulate real-world cultural interactions” – with Arabic or Russian language skills required. The actors are bussed here to play the roles of villagers, governors, merchants, shepherds, imams and doctors, often living on the base during their employment. It has become a big business. An NBC news investigation in 2019 found that this military role-playing industry has ballooned since the early 2000s, now comprising a network of 256 companies across the US, receiving more than $250m a year in government contracts. The actors are often recent refugees, having fled one real-world conflict only to enter another, simulated one. Some have said that working 12 hours a day, up to two weeks at a time, can make it easy for them to forget they are in a simulation.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/15/weve-got-drone-swarms-dirty-bombs-radar-jamming-the-fake-town-where-america-practises-for-war
Seems like the perfect place for really creepy things to happen.
The entire place is ick.
A place to torment people thinking they came for a nice visit.