VOA慢速英语2019--美军训练在极端寒冷的环境下的作战

US Military Trains to Fight in Extreme Cold

Hiding behind a wall of snow, two American Marines melt some snow to make drinking water. They are spending the night digging out a defensive² position high up in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California.

The Marines keep their map of targets protected in clear plastic on the icy surface below the machine gun. Other Marines just a few kilometers away are preparing to attack.

They are about 2,440 meters above sea level. The air is thin, the snow is high and the temperature is low and dropping further. The mountain weather is similar to that in parts of Russia, North Korea and China, countries where the U.S. believes troops could fight the next war.

Major General William F. Mullen is head of the Marines’ Training and Education Command. He told the Associated Press, “We haven’t had to deal with these things. We’ve been very focused on Iraq and Afghanistan.”

Mullen added, “What we really have to do is wake folks up, expose them to things that they haven’t had to think about for quite a while.”

The U.S. has been fighting for 17 years against the Taliban and al-Qaida-linked forces. Now the country’s military is preparing for possible conflicts in Russia, China, North Korea and Iran.

U.S. forces are training to survive severely³ cold weather and fight a high-tech⁴ battle of drones, electronic and cyber weapons.

Colonel⁵ Kevin Hutchison is the training center commander. He said “What you’re seeing here is Marines fighting Marines, so we are replicating⁶ a near-peer⁷ threat” in the training exercise.

As a snowstorm blows around them, Mullen and Hutchison move through the woods to check in with the group of 250 Marines on the mountain. Their training goal is to prevent 800 attackers from gaining control of nearby Wolf Creek⁸ Bridge.

Marine¹ Reese Nichols is from Pensacola, Florida. Another, Chase Soltis, calls Bozeman, Montana home. They had dug their defensive position a day earlier. The two have been watching all night for enemy movement while melting snow for drinking water.

Nichols says the hardest part is “boiling water 24/7. And the cold. It’s cold.”

The Marines use snowshoes and cross-country skis to get around. They wrap their weapons in white to make it hard for the enemy to see. It is a struggle to keep ammunition⁹ dry and heavy machine guns from sinking into the snow.

Marine Rian Lusk is one of the trainers. He says many of the troops have never dealt with snow before. And, the troops have to be digging or moving up the mountain all the time. Lusk says “It’s physically¹⁰ taxing, but more than anything, I think, it’s mentally taxing.”

Military changes its training

A very different training exercise is happening about 640 kilometers to the south at Twentynine Palms Marine base.

Trainers here provide the Marines with only the general purpose of the exercises. The trainees¹¹ make their own battle plans as they would in a real conflict.

Commanders say today’s troops have to be more independent, providing their own protection and support. The training, Mullen said, is to prepare Marines to remain unseen and make quick changes to their battle plan when faced with unexpected threats.

Back on the mountain, the attacking force saw a defensive position and opened fire. Real ammunition is not used so no one gets hurt. But the competition is real.

Hutchinson told the leader of the defensive force, “You took casualties¹² today, and you didn’t respond to it.” Mullen asked the leader why he did not move his Marines to a safer place.

The group’s leader, Brendan Dixon, defended his decision. He said his forces were in the right place to defend the bridge.

It turns out, he was right.

Moving toward the bridge, the attacking forces became trapped, and open to enemy fire. They were unable to move through a narrow area filled with snow.

After the battle, Marine trainers judged that the attackers suffered 30-40 percent casualties, while Dixon’s defensive troops had about 10 percent.

The attacking force, said Hutchison, made some decisions that would have resulted in Marine deaths in a real battle. He added, it is better to learn now than in conflict.

I’m Caty Weaver¹³. And I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

focus - n. to direct attention or effort at something specific

expose - v. to cause (someone) to experience something or to be influenced or affected¹⁴ by something

replicate¹⁵ - v. to repeat or copy (something) exactly

peer - n. a person who belongs to the same age group or social group as someone else

folks - n. people in general (informal)

casualty¹⁶ - n. a person who is hurt or killed during an accident, war, etc.

respond - v. to do something as a reaction to something that has happened or been done

1 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

3 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

4 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

5 colonel   

n.(英国陆军、美国陆空军及海军陆战队)上校

参考例句：

• It's a pity we didn't mend our fences with the colonel.可惜我们还没有和上校先生调整好关系。
• An army major ranks between a captain and a colonel.陆军少校的军阶在上尉与中校之间。

6 replicating   

复制( replicate的现在分词 )； 重复； 再造； 再生

参考例句：

• Applications create these partitions for storing and replicating data. 应用程序创建这些分区用来储存和复制数据。
• The closest real things to these creatures were bits of self-replicating RNA. 最贴近这些造物的实物是能做一点微不足道的自复制的核糖核酸。

7 peer   

n.同辈，同等地位的人，伙伴，贵族；vi.仔细看，费力地看

参考例句：

• Children are easily influenced by their peer.孩子很容易受同辈影响。
• He is a peer.他是一个贵族。

8 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

9 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

10 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

11 trainees   

新兵( trainee的名词复数 )； 练习生； 接受训练的人； 训练中的动物

参考例句：

• We've taken on our full complement of new trainees. 我们招收的新学员已经满额了。
• The trainees were put through an assault course. 受训人员接受了突击训练课程。

12 casualties   

n. 伤亡人员

参考例句：

• Two casualties were airlifted to safety . 两名伤亡人员已空运到安全地区。
• The army were still fighting in spite of heavy casualties. 尽管伤亡人员众多，军队仍在继续战斗。

13 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

14 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

15 replicate   

v.折叠，复制，模写；n.同样的样品；adj.转折的

参考例句：

• The DNA of chromatin must replicate before cell division.染色质DNA在细胞分裂之前必须复制。
• It is also easy to replicate,as the next subsection explains.就像下一个小节详细说明的那样，它还可以被轻易的复制。

16 casualty   

n.严重伤亡事故，伤亡人员，受害者

参考例句：

• Mr.Jones was the first casualty of the firm's cut-backs.琼斯先生在公司裁员中是第一个受害者。
• Casualty lists were published the day after the train accident.伤亡名单在火车意外事故的第二天就公布了。