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AP Photo - Members of the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, Tennessee's largest Guard unit, try to hold back a crowd simulating a protest at Camp Shelby outside Hattiesburg, Miss., on July 30. The training exercise simulated what arming a checkpoint may be like in Iraq, including suicide bombers and sniper situations.

Source: The Greeneville Sun
08-12-2004

CAMP SHELBY, Miss. (AP) — About 10 miles down pine tree-lined, unpaved roads deep inside this 136,000-acre training site, the street signs suddenly change from English to Arabic.

These directions to towns named Trebil and Al Asad are the first hints the more than 3,600 Tennessee National Guardsmen training here are not supposed to be in Mississippi anymore.

Inside these simulated Iraqi towns, more than 50 Iraqi natives act as civilians or the enemy during war games. The exercises are designed to prepare members of the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, Tennessee’s largest Guard unit, for deployment to Iraq later this year.

"I didn’t know they’d have a city this realistic," said Spc. Anthony Johnson, 34, of Etowah, Tenn. "I think it is a great aid for us. We will know what to look for when we get there."

The towns come to life during war games thanks to the presence of 300 paid civilian actors, according to John Ban, director of operations for the military contractor coordinating the exercises.

Nationwide, more than 600 Civilians On the Battlefield often dress in traditional Arab clothing to add realism to the urban combat training at military bases in Texas, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Wisconsin and Indiana.

Ban said the civilians, including military veterans and more than 100 Iraqis, are paid $11.25 an hour and are subject to security background checks before being allowed on base.

The military spent six weeks transforming portions of this base into Iraq, according to Lt. Col. Mick Sharp, a Chattanooga native who commands a training support battalion at the camp.

"It is amazing what you can do when the Army throws a bunch of money at you," he said.

He said the 278th is the first combat unit to go through Camp Shelby’s training since the upgrades were completed. The training combines combat tactics with cultural awareness classes.

The two Iraqi towns resemble something from a low-budget Hollywood movie set. Bombed out and overturned Iraqi police cars and taxis are scattered among sand-colored trailers designed to look like police stations, mosques and crude Iraqi houses. Pictures of ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein compete for space on the town walls along with graffiti and wanted posters showing pretend Iraqi insurgents.

Hamid Ali, 25, has been role-playing for two weeks at Camp Shelby. He fled Iraq with his family during the Persian Gulf War in 1991 and arrived in America in 1994 after three years in Saudi Arabia.

"I’m trying my best to give them hints about what they are going to see there so lives on both sides — civilian and soldiers — can be saved," said Ali, who lives in Dearborn, Mich. "They are going to see the same faces, the same attitudes and almost the same people when they get there."

He said other native Iraqis from as far away as Texas and Washington have come to this military base southeast of Hattiesburg to help their country recover from Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship and the war.

"Most Iraqis never believed the dictator would be removed," said Bassim Ali, 26 and Hamid Ali’s brother. "These people did us a huge favor, and I am just trying to give them something back."

Ban said the Iraqis help familiarize the soldiers with the Arabic language, customs and traditions.

Informal instruction takes place when many of the Iraqi role-players stay behind after the exercises to answer questions from the Americans.

"It is instant feedback from somebody who is actually from the country," he said. "The Iraqis know how important this training is."

Bassim Ali said guardsmen have learned taking a step back while talking to someone is an insult to an Iraqi, while people tapping their own chest are signs of friendship.

Guardsmen learn not to shout out "hey" to Iraqis or point at them with one finger, Bassim Ali said.

During a four-day urban training course last week inside the makeshift cities, guardsmen conducted door-to-door searches for weapons and “terrorists” while quelling a civilian riot and keeping an eye out for snipers. The actors are told to be difficult, according to 1st Sgt. Robert Spaulding with the 278th.

"These civilians will push you to your limits,” he said. “You have to keep your cool. The goal is to get in there, get the weapons out and get the people out without firing a shot."

The guardsmen had to talk to the town mayor and local religious leaders in seeking help for the searches, which eventually led to a series of hidden underground tunnels. Some of the Iraqi actors wouldn’t let the troops through the town to apprehend the suspected terrorists.

"It gives you the realization that these people are furious about things whether we understand it or not," Spaulding said.

Later in the week, members of the 278th faced a standoff with about 50 protesters shouting insults against the United States and calling President Bush a thief. The guardsmen formed a human chain in front of the angry mob. A soldier fired one warning shot in the air while other troops threw down a barbed-wire barrier to cordon off the protesters.

Hamid Ali, who recently spent three months in Iraq visiting family, said most Iraqis are waiting to see if America’s promise of democracy becomes a reality.

While visiting Iraq, Hamid Ali said he noticed some American soldiers acting nervous around the Iraqis while other soldiers seemed too aggressive. Hamid Ali, who graduated this summer with a computer science degree from Wayne State University, said he decided to come back to America to help the newest batch of soldiers going to Iraq.

His brother said he blames the current violence in Iraq on extremists from neighboring countries who poured over Iraq’s undefended borders soon after the coalition invasion in 2003. He said Arabs from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Palestine and Syria see Iraq as a holy battlefield and enter the country with money and weapons to support the fight.

Bassim Ali said most Iraqis are very happy and want to rebuild their country. Once life settles back down, both Ali brothers would like to return to Iraq and use their college degrees to help stabilize their homeland.

“Life is simple there,” Hamid Ali said.

Story Copyright to Greene County Online