Content area
Full Text
EVERY workday morning, retired SFC Timothy L. Good dresses in blue jeans and a work shirt, drives 20 miles to his office and prepares to go about his daily routine.
For others working at the Combat Maneuver Training Center in Hohenfels, Germany, that might mean making repairs to unit vehicles, maintaining the maneuver ranges or in some other way supporting the thousands of soldiers who train here each year.
But for Good and the 15 other Army civilians who comprise the roleplaying "Civilians on the Battlefield" team at CMTC, the day's activities usually include something a little more disruptive.
"Our specialty is inciting a nonotice, out-of-control riot," Good explained.
Civilians on the Battlefield, or COBs - "Pronounce it 'cob' as in `mob,"' Good said - have been used at CMTC since the early 1990s to portray civilian ethnic groups and organizations that Army units might encounter when deployed.
The COB's mission is to add realism to situations where units might have to deal with civilian populations while conducting military operations.
The majority of COB employees are retired Army personnel, many with combat experience. One member is an ex-Navy SEAL. All speak a second language, and they can draw on other skills to confuse...