Just call me paranoid, but I get really nervous when the military starts conducting large scale "training" exercises in civilian areas. And back in December I understand that Fort Bragg had a contingent down here that rented the entire Pointes West Recreation Area up at the lake to set up for "training" in surrounding areas for a week. Why this area all of a sudden? Fort Bragg and Camp Lejune already have some of the largest land mass training areas. Are they practicing and reconing for martial law?

Note to self: Order backhoe, cargo container, PVC pipe, and more MRE's .

War veterans I know are concerned about reactionary responses from people who don't bother with the news paper or watch television or the not so healthy elderly.

Argument goes like this...

Expect larger explosions than blank rifle fire. Large explosives are used in training, and they produce amazingly realistic "mushroom clouds," that are about three hundred feet high.

Nobody can be expected to expect something like that even if you are informed about the "exercise".

There is a quarry in the area, so civilians may think it's just another blast.

But a 300 foot mushroom cloud would scare the life out of old people who've never seen such a "training device" much less heard about one.

Who's going to get the blame if somebody has a heart attack or commits suicide, because they don't read the paper?

What if an elderly man or woman returns fire, because they think they are defending their family, what happens next?

And why here and why now? With all the land available for them to do this sort of thing on this is just asking for trouble.

End argument.