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Military Helicopters Are Descending On Downtown This Week

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If you hear helicopters roaring overhead in downtown L.A., it could be military aircraft during a training exercise for Camp Pendleton Marines. The two-week training begins today and will end on December 16, CBS LA reports. An expected 2,400 members of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit will be practicing raids using modified M-15s that shoot paintballs. These raids will occur in numerous uninhabited, undisclosed locations. For safety reasons, these areas will be not be accessible to the public during the exercises.

It might sound exciting, but Capt. Brian Block told the AP that "it's not going to look like Apocalypse Now by any stretch of the imagination."

There will be additional training exercises at other California military bases and in Arizona and Las Vegas.

The military coordinated their training with the LAPD, who gave a heads up to local property owners and tweeted out a notice this morning.

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