Arkansans In Final Training Before Heading to Iraq

The Arkansas-based 39th Infantry Brigade is at Fort Polk, Louisiana, for training in situations they may experience in Iraq. The war games and other role-playing exercises are intended to help prepare the National Guard brigade for deployment. The 39th is now part of the First Cavalry Division. Major Ron Elliott of the Fort Polk training staff says it is better for the troops to get first-hand experience -- no matter how stressful -- in training rather than do their learning in a combat environment. The unit received 15 (m) million dollars in new equipment Sunday. The war games begin Friday. The Army has hired 200 Iraqi-Americans and Iraqi nationals to portray the local leaders, civil defense forces and populations the Americans will encounter. In addition, about 200 residents of the Fort Polk area stand in to act as part of the Iraqi populace. ----- These are scenarios the soldiers will face in just one typical day: an electrical plant is sabotaged, local residents complain to the Army of water problems, they protest sewer malfunctions, a Shiite cleric is killed, infighting flares within a cluster of former Saddam Hussein loyalists, a hostile tribe kills an American-trained Iraqi police officer, an Army convoy is ambushed and more Iraqis hold a demonstration over a power failure. Posted by Mike Hellgren