Answering the call: Multimedia coverage of the 32nd "Red Arrow" Brigade

Training simulates Middle East conditions

By BETH BURGER, Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers

CAMP SHELBY, Miss. — Looking for weapons, inspecting a car for explosives, negotiating with a sheik, dealing with angry villagers - just a few situations soldiers prepared for as they trained for deployment to Kuwait.

From August to October, members of the Wisconsin Rapids-based 1st Battalion, 120th Field Artillery trained daily for contact they'll have with Arabic civilians and other Middle Easterners they'll encounter at check points and villages. Effectively dealing with people from different cultures who speak different languages will be an important part of the success of the unit's mission.

During training exercises, actors at Mississippi's Camp Shelby wave their hands at soldiers, telling them in Arabic to go away. The actors simulate villagers concerned they might be attacked by insurgents if they're seen with U.S. soldiers.

"I tell the soldiers all the time, treat (the civilians) nicely. The people have been through a lot," said Tahrer Mohammad, a 45-year-old Greenville, S.C., resident who is an actress in the scenarios. "(The people) went through a lot with Saddam for 30 years."

Mohammad has lived in the United States for 20 years. She is a native of Hila, Iraq.

Wisconsin-based soldiers are greeted by actors playing civilians on a battlefield during a training exercise at Camp Shelby, Miss. The soldiers are learning to use Arabic to help speak with them. Tom Loucks/Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers

Actors such as Mohammad want the soldiers to understand the Muslim culture that is prevalent throughout the Middle East.

"We want both the American soldiers and the civilians to be safe," she said during a break from a recent training exercise. "We don't want the terrorists to win. The terrorists haven't given the Americans the opportunity to fix anything."

Mohammad travels from her home in South Carolina to Mississippi to aid in training.

"The guys from Wisconsin are a little more intense," she said, describing the seriousness she has seen in local soldiers.

She remembers an incident that broke her heart.

"One of the soldiers was pale and shaking. And I look at him, and he is like my son's age," she said. "I took my sleeve to wipe the sweat from his face, and it scared him. I told him it was OK."

Soldiers have been given culture "smart cards" with Arabic phrases and tips. The military has provided them with Arabic language CDs to listen to in their spare time.

First Lt. Jason Staab, 24, of Abbottsford has learned a few phrases in Arabic, such as "stop," "put your hands up" and some yes/no questions.

"We're not supposed to give a thumbs-up sign," Staab said. "But I've heard if they see an American do it, they won't necessarily take offense because they know it's part of our culture."

Sgt. Elliot Niesl, a 22-year-old Wausau resident and student at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, isn't worried about a language or cultural barrier.

"If we were in a situation, they are going to have an interpreter," he said.

Niesl has heard many people speak English because of America's presence dating back to the first war with Iraq.

Spc. Jamie Peckham, 26, of Nekoosa said he wants to work with the civilians.

"I'm looking forward to working with these people, and I don't want to offend anyone."

But the conditions soldiers have been trained to operate under have been chaotic.

"A lot of the stuff we have been doing has been stressful," said Pfc. Craig Schmid, 19, of Wisconsin Rapids.

Trainers are trying, as much as they can, to reproduce the real threats soldiers could face in the Middle East.

"You can't replicate your buddies lying over there. You can't replicate the thud of an IED that knocks you on your butt if the building doesn't collapse on you," said Lt. Col. Gary Skon, a 39-year-old Pittsville native and battalion commander for the 120th, as he watched a training exercise for an entry-level checkpoint Monday evening.

"We make it as real as possible."

As a simulated IED, or improvised explosive device, detonated beside a van, soldiers fell into formation, taking count of casualties and looking for insurgents. Gunfire erupted as a van breached a control point.

"With each scenario, if the guys handle it real well, you throw more stuff at them and keep putting more pressure on them to step out and move," said 1st Sgt. Duane Beyer, 45, a Shawano resident and member of a Bravo battery based in Marshfield and Clintonville.

"They react to everything, and any one of them could make a split decision between life and death."

When the soldiers are overseas guarding checkpoints at the Kuwaiti base, they'll have to check IDs and access lists before admitting workers.

One exercise simulated a group of workers waiting to enter the base. The longer they waited, the more agitated they became. In Iraq, those civilians could become targets for snipers.

The goal here is to get them through as fast as possible and safely as possible," Skon said. "It's that constant conflict."