This neat military town lies 7,500 miles from Baghdad but drive west down the road into the desert and the landscape resembles western Iraq. The hazards are similar, too: roadside bombs, ambushes, suicide bombers, hit-and-run raids, kidnappings.
Fort Irwin is home to the U.S. Army's National Training Center, covering almost 1,200 square miles in the Mojave Desert. The base serves as the last stop for tens of thousands of U.S. troops before they ship out to Iraq and put into practice what they hope to learn here -- how to fight ruthless and innovative opponents without creating new enemies from the civilian population and without taking sides in Iraq's internal conflicts.
Interesting article on the Mojave Desert base where the Army trains recruits before the head out to Iraq. Seems like a perfect place to me, with the conditions there most like what they'll see when they get to Iraq. The base was formerly used for tank training exercises, but since 2004 has served as a training ground for soldiers heading into Iraq.
Read the full story.
God Bless our troops sweating it out in the desert. Living in the desert (Phoenix) I can sympathise deeply for them. Training in such hostile lands here might be rough but provides a good heads-up for the summer "over there". As a civillian, I'd like to know what we (civillians) could send our troops to help make this summer in Iraq more bearable? My company's HR Dept might be able to get a troop care package drive going with the right incentive.
