Soldiers get a taste of Afghanistan in US training

At dawn, six Humvees roll into an ambush. A roadside bomb detonates, gunfire erupts -- all part of a harmless but crucial training exercise that steels US troops for the battle against Islamist extremists in Afghanistan.

Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division could be facing the same scenario in a few weeks and are enrolled in a special training program in Fort Polk, in the southern US state of Louisiana.

For three weeks some 4,000 members of the division's Fourth Brigade prepare for a tour of duty in Afghanistan at the vast military site of some 400 square kilometers 154 square miles, about five times the size of a city like Paris.

"We want the unit's worst day to occur here, not in combat," said Brigadier General James Yarbrough, the Fort Polk commander.

"We focus on all very important tasks like combat casualty care in a very realistic manner," said Yarbrough.

The training involves "some Hollywood effects and real blood," and is aimed at generating "a lot of excitement and a sense of urgency," he said.

A visibly agitated man wearing a long white tunic and a wool pakol cap -- traditional Afghan garb -- approaches soldiers in 'Dagri,' a fictional town of office trailers decorated with Afghan motifs created for training purposes.

"Are you the commander? Where is my money?" he demands. "I want my money! You took my land but I didn't get any money."

The actors at the makeshift village are mostly Afghan exiles living in the United States who act the parts for a fee.

Villagers wander around the town. A man shepherds his goats. A woman, covered head-to-toe in a burqa gown, observes the soldiers through a white fabric net that covers her eyes.

During the training the soldiers are faced with different scenarios, all based on real events: everything from an outburst of civilian anger to meetings with tribal chiefs to check point controls.

"I try to see how they introduce themselves, how they talk to me," said Mohamed Nawaz Waziri, an Afghan currently living in Virginia who plays the angry man role.

"Most of these soldiers who were deployed to Iraq, they think Afghanistan is like Iraq -- but it's totally different, culture-wise and security matters too," said Naqibllah Mayar, another Afghan who moved to the United States in 2007 and who plays a merchant in the training.

At the end of each exercise the officers and the actors go over the different scenarios with the soldiers, explaining what worked and what can improved. An open hand, for example, is an important sign of friendship. The emphasis is on communicating with the local population.

Soon the soldiers, who arrived in late March from their home base in North Carolina, will be in the real Afghanistan dealing with real problems.

On April 3 the paratroopers learned they would be deployed to western and southern Afghanistan, and not Iraq as they had initially expected.

"I think a majority of the army feels as though ... where we need to be is in Afghanistan," said Private First Class Josh Cootware.

"We are not pulling the trigger quite as much. Yes, we got to train to do that here, but we got to get good at the finesse of what it takes to be an effective combat advisor," he said.





A Palestinian youth rides his horse at sunset. AP Photo/Adel Hana

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