The Hyde County Sheriff’s Department is notifying Ocracoke Islanders that a small military group will be on the island Friday (May 22) to do training exercises.
Deputy Captain Joe Smith said the group will be in camouflage uniforms and will be armed but not with live ammunition.
He said the group will be doing humanitarian and emergency rescue training.
They will arrive mid-morning, train at the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department, the airport and with a boat. They will leave after that.
They won’t be walking around the village, he said, and he did not know how many would be in the group or which branch of the military the group is with.
He said he learned of the group today (Thursday) and that they have been doing training exercises around the state.
“It’s just a training exercise,” he said. “There’s nothing to worry about.”
This is a very odd announcement. As a former US Army Civil Affairs officer, any military training off a federal installation was formally noticed to local media directly, not through local law enforcement. The type of training described could easily be accomplished on several of NC’s many military bases. If the Sheriff’s Department does not even know which service is conducting the training it makes me wonder if this is actually the US military at all.
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