thedrifter
12-27-08, 06:35 AM
Marines train in mock Iraqi village at Twentynine Palms combat center
10:00 PM PST on Friday, December 26, 2008
By MARK MUCKENFUSS
The Press-Enterprise
An Iraqi insurgent bursts from his hiding place in an alley and races down the unpaved street firing his AK-47 seemingly indiscriminately toward a platoon of U.S. Marines and some Iraqi policemen.
Civilians in neighboring houses cry out at the gunfire.
Before he has covered more than 20 yards, the insurgent jerks and falls to the ground.
Wounded, he moans and attempts to crawl away before two Iraqi policemen rush forward, grab him and carry him off the dusty street.
The scene could be played out in any number of trouble spots in Iraq, but Baghdad is more than 7,500 miles away.
These Iraqis and U.S. Marines are shooting at each other in the small city of Wadi Al-Sahara nestled in a desert valley within the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center.
The rounds are blanks, but most of the Iraqis are real.
Since 2005, the military has used native Iraqis to help stage training exercises in mock Iraqi cities.
The drills are geared not only to military issues but also to cultural engagement, where troops learn the rules of war alongside the rules of everyday life in Iraq.
Wadi Al-Sahara is a warren of single and stacked metal cargo containers fitted with doors and windows. Small gold and metallic blue mosque domes protrude here and there above rooftops.
The dirt streets are marked with signs in Arabic. Here and there, burned-out cars provide the décor of war.
The Marines who train here are immersed in the language and customs of the Iraqi people.
They learn to deal with local police and religious officials.
Iraqis explain such things as what is permissible with women and what is not, how not to offend an Iraqi man, and how to avoid escalating a tense situation.
Some of the Iraqis, hired through military contracts, are American citizens who have lived in the United States for many years.
Others are relatively fresh from their home country.
Many do not speak much English.
They said they are here to help not only the Marines, but also their countrymen.
IRAQI TEACHERS
Janet Aorahim, 45, of Phoenix, came to the U.S. from Baghdad 10 years ago.
In Iraq, she was an obstetrician and gynecologist.
In Phoenix, because she is not certified as a physician in America, she is a secretary.
Part of her time is spent playing the role of an Iraqi citizen, helping provide training to U.S. troops that, she said, is "very effective."
She feels that she and her fellow actors have been instrumental in the drop in violence that has taken place in Iraq during the last year.
"We want to make sure when the Marines go to Iraq they can help our people," Aorahim said. "We teach them the Arabic language and the culture."
Raymond Hesano, 59, left Baghdad in 1967. He plays a police chief and said the work he and others are doing here is critical.
"We train the Marines and save their lives and save the Iraqis' lives," said Hesano, who retired from his liquor store business in Michigan and moved to San Diego several years ago.
"I'm not exaggerating," he added. "Every unit that goes from here, we get a lot of e-mail saying what a good job we're doing.
"They see the same thing over there and they're not making the mistakes" they might otherwise make.
Back for Training
Like many of the Marines training here, Cpl. Chad Harris has already been to Iraq.
Harris, 22, of Houston, trained in the mock village before his first deployment.
Readying for his second tour, he is relaxing during a break with a fellow Marine, sitting at a picnic table near Hesano's police station.
"Basically, everything I learned here, I utilized," said Harris, "from engagement (with the locals) to cordoning off an IED."
Today's training, Harris said, is significantly different than what he experienced the first time.
"We pull from the units that just got back on what's happening in country," he said.
They learn about changing laws and new developments with the capabilities of the Iraqi forces.
"That's what we implement here," Harris said.
Lt. Peter Brooks spent time in Hit, a town in Al-Anbar Province, during his first deployment.
Now training for his second tour, Brooks said he takes the training here very seriously.
"As someone who had to work with an interpreter, having this training was huge," he said. "It gives us a chance to work with the Iraqis. You can always learn more about how to read their emotions."
For example, he said, it's easy to assume when an Iraqi raises his or her voice, that they're angry.
Brooks said many times that's not the case.
"It's just the way they make their point," he said.
Consultants Help
In addition to implementing intelligence from returning troops into the training, the military uses other sources as well.
Wendy Manthey is a 13-year veteran of law enforcement.
She now works for Alutiiq Inc., an Alaska-based contractor that supplies consultants for the operation here.
Another Alaskan company, Tatilek Corp., recruits the Iraqi role players from around the country.
Manthey came to Twentynine Palms in September.
She helps devise scenarios in which Marines learn to work with the Iraqi police.
Manthey said she spent time in Iraq gathering information on the police forces there and keeps in touch, via e-mail, with people on the ground there.
"The training can be adjusted to be as realistic as possible," she said. "Everyone here is trying to make sure things are real current."
An example, she said, is the increased capability of the Iraqi police in recent months, now reflected in the training here.
"Instead of the coalition forces standing in front," she said, "it's important for the Iraqi police to stand in front."
As people mill about Wadi Al-Sahara's police station, Manthey described the day's activity between the Marines and the Iraqi police.
"A major meeting happened yesterday," she said. "What's happening today is a follow-on meeting. They'll be dialing down on some of the issues they discussed with the police commander yesterday."
That involves asking detailed questions about their activities and investigations and setting up some joint patrols.
"They're trying to get a sense of how well this police force is doing," she said.
Tap the Local Sheik
Staff Sgt. Jack Hightower said his troops are not only learning to deal with the police chief; they also have to talk to the local sheik.
"You have to deal with the sheik," Hightower said. "There's always a sheik. And there's always a middleman who has contact with both the bad guys and the good guys."
Part of the day's training is to use the middleman to convince a potential insurgent to instead support the Americans.
Practicing such practical scenarios, said Hightower, is part of the success the military is seeing in Iraq.
He wishes it had been implemented before the war was already 2 years old.
"Five years ago, this wasn't available," he said. "If it had been, it would have been a tremendous tool.
"As far as language and etiquette, it would have been useful," he said.
Iraqi native Hesano also wonders how things might have played differently if such training had started sooner.
"If there is a war with any country, they should learn the culture first," Hesano said. "Whoever thought about this, I give them a lot of credit. If they would have started in 2003 . . ."
He lets his sentence go unfinished.
Reach Mark Muckenfuss at 951-368- 9595 or mmuckenfuss@PE.com
Ellie
10:00 PM PST on Friday, December 26, 2008
By MARK MUCKENFUSS
The Press-Enterprise
An Iraqi insurgent bursts from his hiding place in an alley and races down the unpaved street firing his AK-47 seemingly indiscriminately toward a platoon of U.S. Marines and some Iraqi policemen.
Civilians in neighboring houses cry out at the gunfire.
Before he has covered more than 20 yards, the insurgent jerks and falls to the ground.
Wounded, he moans and attempts to crawl away before two Iraqi policemen rush forward, grab him and carry him off the dusty street.
The scene could be played out in any number of trouble spots in Iraq, but Baghdad is more than 7,500 miles away.
These Iraqis and U.S. Marines are shooting at each other in the small city of Wadi Al-Sahara nestled in a desert valley within the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center.
The rounds are blanks, but most of the Iraqis are real.
Since 2005, the military has used native Iraqis to help stage training exercises in mock Iraqi cities.
The drills are geared not only to military issues but also to cultural engagement, where troops learn the rules of war alongside the rules of everyday life in Iraq.
Wadi Al-Sahara is a warren of single and stacked metal cargo containers fitted with doors and windows. Small gold and metallic blue mosque domes protrude here and there above rooftops.
The dirt streets are marked with signs in Arabic. Here and there, burned-out cars provide the décor of war.
The Marines who train here are immersed in the language and customs of the Iraqi people.
They learn to deal with local police and religious officials.
Iraqis explain such things as what is permissible with women and what is not, how not to offend an Iraqi man, and how to avoid escalating a tense situation.
Some of the Iraqis, hired through military contracts, are American citizens who have lived in the United States for many years.
Others are relatively fresh from their home country.
Many do not speak much English.
They said they are here to help not only the Marines, but also their countrymen.
IRAQI TEACHERS
Janet Aorahim, 45, of Phoenix, came to the U.S. from Baghdad 10 years ago.
In Iraq, she was an obstetrician and gynecologist.
In Phoenix, because she is not certified as a physician in America, she is a secretary.
Part of her time is spent playing the role of an Iraqi citizen, helping provide training to U.S. troops that, she said, is "very effective."
She feels that she and her fellow actors have been instrumental in the drop in violence that has taken place in Iraq during the last year.
"We want to make sure when the Marines go to Iraq they can help our people," Aorahim said. "We teach them the Arabic language and the culture."
Raymond Hesano, 59, left Baghdad in 1967. He plays a police chief and said the work he and others are doing here is critical.
"We train the Marines and save their lives and save the Iraqis' lives," said Hesano, who retired from his liquor store business in Michigan and moved to San Diego several years ago.
"I'm not exaggerating," he added. "Every unit that goes from here, we get a lot of e-mail saying what a good job we're doing.
"They see the same thing over there and they're not making the mistakes" they might otherwise make.
Back for Training
Like many of the Marines training here, Cpl. Chad Harris has already been to Iraq.
Harris, 22, of Houston, trained in the mock village before his first deployment.
Readying for his second tour, he is relaxing during a break with a fellow Marine, sitting at a picnic table near Hesano's police station.
"Basically, everything I learned here, I utilized," said Harris, "from engagement (with the locals) to cordoning off an IED."
Today's training, Harris said, is significantly different than what he experienced the first time.
"We pull from the units that just got back on what's happening in country," he said.
They learn about changing laws and new developments with the capabilities of the Iraqi forces.
"That's what we implement here," Harris said.
Lt. Peter Brooks spent time in Hit, a town in Al-Anbar Province, during his first deployment.
Now training for his second tour, Brooks said he takes the training here very seriously.
"As someone who had to work with an interpreter, having this training was huge," he said. "It gives us a chance to work with the Iraqis. You can always learn more about how to read their emotions."
For example, he said, it's easy to assume when an Iraqi raises his or her voice, that they're angry.
Brooks said many times that's not the case.
"It's just the way they make their point," he said.
Consultants Help
In addition to implementing intelligence from returning troops into the training, the military uses other sources as well.
Wendy Manthey is a 13-year veteran of law enforcement.
She now works for Alutiiq Inc., an Alaska-based contractor that supplies consultants for the operation here.
Another Alaskan company, Tatilek Corp., recruits the Iraqi role players from around the country.
Manthey came to Twentynine Palms in September.
She helps devise scenarios in which Marines learn to work with the Iraqi police.
Manthey said she spent time in Iraq gathering information on the police forces there and keeps in touch, via e-mail, with people on the ground there.
"The training can be adjusted to be as realistic as possible," she said. "Everyone here is trying to make sure things are real current."
An example, she said, is the increased capability of the Iraqi police in recent months, now reflected in the training here.
"Instead of the coalition forces standing in front," she said, "it's important for the Iraqi police to stand in front."
As people mill about Wadi Al-Sahara's police station, Manthey described the day's activity between the Marines and the Iraqi police.
"A major meeting happened yesterday," she said. "What's happening today is a follow-on meeting. They'll be dialing down on some of the issues they discussed with the police commander yesterday."
That involves asking detailed questions about their activities and investigations and setting up some joint patrols.
"They're trying to get a sense of how well this police force is doing," she said.
Tap the Local Sheik
Staff Sgt. Jack Hightower said his troops are not only learning to deal with the police chief; they also have to talk to the local sheik.
"You have to deal with the sheik," Hightower said. "There's always a sheik. And there's always a middleman who has contact with both the bad guys and the good guys."
Part of the day's training is to use the middleman to convince a potential insurgent to instead support the Americans.
Practicing such practical scenarios, said Hightower, is part of the success the military is seeing in Iraq.
He wishes it had been implemented before the war was already 2 years old.
"Five years ago, this wasn't available," he said. "If it had been, it would have been a tremendous tool.
"As far as language and etiquette, it would have been useful," he said.
Iraqi native Hesano also wonders how things might have played differently if such training had started sooner.
"If there is a war with any country, they should learn the culture first," Hesano said. "Whoever thought about this, I give them a lot of credit. If they would have started in 2003 . . ."
He lets his sentence go unfinished.
Reach Mark Muckenfuss at 951-368- 9595 or mmuckenfuss@PE.com
Ellie