War-Torn Woodstock   

Woodstock, Virginia, has become a war zone--but for instructional purposes only.

The England-based Centurion Risk Assessment Services Ltd. has set up shop in the city--its first U.S. base--teaching journalists and others how to survive in hostile situations.

More than 4,000 journalists have completed Centurion's programs in the United Kingdom. Managing Director Paul Rees says the company is trying to "put the feelers out" in this country because the program attracts many U.S. journalists (see "School for Survival," November 1998).

Centurion describes a hostile environment as "anywhere there is a potential threat to safety and security." These include battle-torn countries, but also areas of crime, poverty, extreme weather, disaster, poor health and unrest.

Ex-Royal Marine Commando Rees heads up the Centurion staff of 16 instructors, all ex-commandos. Most of the training takes place outdoors through scenarios acted out by instructors, with realistic props to make the scenarios as authentic as possible.

Centurion maintains two facilities in Hampshire, England. The Woodstock location opened in October, and there are plans to set up a site in Singapore in May.

The training can pay off. Kurt Schork, a Reuters correspondent, and Miguel Gil Moreno de Mora, an Associated Press cameraman, were killed May 24, 2000, in an ambush at Rogberi Junction, Sierra Leone (see Free Press, July/August). Reuters cameraman Mark Chisholm and photographer Yannis Behrakis survived. Behrakis attributes his survival to the Centurion training he completed with Schork.

"It was a good day in the Centurion course and a horrific day in the jungle," Behrakis wrote in a letter to Centurion. "Thanks for that day. Thanks for helping to save my life."