Military Training Rattles Monmouth Residents

Some Monmouth County residents can expect to sleep soundly now that military training for about 100 soldiers has ended.

Noise from helicopters and explosions rattled some residents in Long Branch, Eatontown and Tinton Falls earlier this week as troops from Fort Bragg’s Special Operations Command conducted drills.

The training started Monday at the abandoned Sea View Towers apartment complex in Long Branch. The troops then moved to sites at what once was Fort Monmouth.

Command spokesman Maj. Mike Burns tells the Asbury Park Press the sites were chosen because they provide realistic urban training. Burns says the training prepares the soldiers for fighting in “a myriad of confusing city landscapes lights and sounds.”

Some residents became alarmed even though town websites posted notices about the training.
Burns told the Press, “We don’t try to come to New Jersey and make everybody upset,” he said. “We try to do everything we can to minimize the disturbance.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.