thedrifter
03-14-07, 10:36 AM
Last training stop on the road to Iraq
By Erica Solvig - The (Palm Springs, Calif.) Desert Sun
Posted : Wednesday Mar 14, 2007 10:07:19 EDT
TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. — As the war in Iraq nears its four-year anniversary and the nation debates its future, Marines from across the country prepare at Twentynine Palms for the rigors and grim realities they'll face: Reacting to hidden roadside bombs that explode without warning. Helping wounded comrades, sometimes bloodied and severely injured. Patrolling a street and not knowing if the locals speaking a foreign language are friends or enemies.
It's all part of Mojave Viper, an extensive training program that re-creates the war and life in Iraq so that every Marine is fully prepared before deploying.
Using two mock Iraqi towns and as many as 500 former Iraqi citizens and other role players, troops experience everything from the enemy's tactics to interacting with local residents.
By year's end, officials estimate 50,000 Marines would have completed Mojave Viper since its September 2005 inception.
"I've never seen any place in the world that replicates [Iraq] as well as Twentynine Palms," said Russell Glenn, a researcher who has written extensively on urban warfare training.
To meet the demands on the military, officials at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center are intensifying and expanding the training:
* Officials want to build a third Iraqi city to accommodate about 3,000 troops at a time.
That's about three times the size of the larger of the base's two towns, Wadi al Sahara and Khalidiyah.
Details are still being worked out, military officials say. But a recent base report said the 1,500-building complex could open in 2009.
* The smaller city, Khalidiyah, has expanded. More than a dozen additional buildings have been added since late December.
* A maintenance break was delayed until April because battalions are deploying sooner than originally expected.
Experts say the urban warfare training that's being provided uses the most advanced tactics. And though it is an investment — the larger town cost $23 million — officials say the lessons learned are invaluable.
This all comes at a time when the country is at a crossroads about how to proceed in Iraq.
President Bush in January ordered 21,500 additional troops into the country.
But the Democrat-controlled House in February passed a nonbinding resolution opposing the president's war policy.
To date, more than 3,100 troops from all U.S. military branches have been killed in Iraq.
But as the national debate continues, the training presses on.
"We're not going to sit and let the bad guys overwhelm us with their brand-new ideas," said Twentynine Palms' Gunnery Sgt. Chris Cox. "We're taking those lessons learned in country and using them. Hopefully, training is harder than the real world."
Ellie
By Erica Solvig - The (Palm Springs, Calif.) Desert Sun
Posted : Wednesday Mar 14, 2007 10:07:19 EDT
TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. — As the war in Iraq nears its four-year anniversary and the nation debates its future, Marines from across the country prepare at Twentynine Palms for the rigors and grim realities they'll face: Reacting to hidden roadside bombs that explode without warning. Helping wounded comrades, sometimes bloodied and severely injured. Patrolling a street and not knowing if the locals speaking a foreign language are friends or enemies.
It's all part of Mojave Viper, an extensive training program that re-creates the war and life in Iraq so that every Marine is fully prepared before deploying.
Using two mock Iraqi towns and as many as 500 former Iraqi citizens and other role players, troops experience everything from the enemy's tactics to interacting with local residents.
By year's end, officials estimate 50,000 Marines would have completed Mojave Viper since its September 2005 inception.
"I've never seen any place in the world that replicates [Iraq] as well as Twentynine Palms," said Russell Glenn, a researcher who has written extensively on urban warfare training.
To meet the demands on the military, officials at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center are intensifying and expanding the training:
* Officials want to build a third Iraqi city to accommodate about 3,000 troops at a time.
That's about three times the size of the larger of the base's two towns, Wadi al Sahara and Khalidiyah.
Details are still being worked out, military officials say. But a recent base report said the 1,500-building complex could open in 2009.
* The smaller city, Khalidiyah, has expanded. More than a dozen additional buildings have been added since late December.
* A maintenance break was delayed until April because battalions are deploying sooner than originally expected.
Experts say the urban warfare training that's being provided uses the most advanced tactics. And though it is an investment — the larger town cost $23 million — officials say the lessons learned are invaluable.
This all comes at a time when the country is at a crossroads about how to proceed in Iraq.
President Bush in January ordered 21,500 additional troops into the country.
But the Democrat-controlled House in February passed a nonbinding resolution opposing the president's war policy.
To date, more than 3,100 troops from all U.S. military branches have been killed in Iraq.
But as the national debate continues, the training presses on.
"We're not going to sit and let the bad guys overwhelm us with their brand-new ideas," said Twentynine Palms' Gunnery Sgt. Chris Cox. "We're taking those lessons learned in country and using them. Hopefully, training is harder than the real world."
Ellie