Friday, February 9, 2018

"Special Operations troops assaulted downtown Tampa … all to thunderous applause"

From 2016:
The exercise is put on each year as a part of the Special Forces Industry Conference, a 12,000-strong, three-day meeting of Special Operations personnel and companies showcasing the latest technologies available to both U.S. troops and their international allies.

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn is captured by pirates and held ashore near the convention center here. Soon after, as thousands of spectators watched from nearby rooftops, party boats and bar patios, Black Hawk helicopters supported by smaller gunships and fast-moving riverine craft descended on the area.

...

For the faux mission’s finale, a rescued Buckhorn was ferried back to shore, firing one of the riverine craft’s blank-shooting .50-caliber machine guns as if he were Rambo incarnate, a smile plastered on his face while being flanked by some of the United States’ most elite war fighters.