((PKG)) SOLDIERS / FORT IRWIN
((Banner: The Soldiers))
((Reporter/Camera: Genia Dulot))
((Map: Fort Irwin, California))
((Cody Britton, Sergeant First Class))
You asked me earlier if I think NTC (National Training Center) was needed? I say most definitely. To most people this just looks like a place with a bunch of buildings. To a combat vet or people who have been out here before, this is about as realistic as we can get it.
You have to know how to talk to the people in the bazaars. You can’t go over there, I mean they’re people too. They’re trying to make a living just like everybody else. You can’t go over there and be rude and be mean. If you do a good deed, sometimes they’ll show you where the bad guy is.
((Wisam AlJeboory, Defense Contract Employee))
In 2003, I worked with a US company in construction in Iraq and then I switched to the US Army. I train or help someone here before they go overseas and make a mistake. So, we kind of culture advise, like, don’t do that, be aware of this. Something he is not introduced to as a soldier and it could just help him.
((Travis Lindeman, First Lieutenant))
So, today we’re going to give a demonstration just to show people what the capabilities are at the National Training Center. I’m going to show the sight, sounds and smells. So, people are going to hear the call to prayer, maybe dogs barking, just the different ways in which we can give training soldiers a sensory overload to try and simulate what it might be like to be in a deployed nation.
((Cody Britton, Sergeant First Class))
As you start to go up, you can already see that the building is already fogged out. So, when you go up there, your sense is going to be completely going. You’ve got to figure out what’s supposed to be going on. So, if you had somebody hiding in that stairwell over there, you know, how could you accomplish the mission on going through the building and finding the bad guys.
((Cody Britton, Sergeant First Class))
When the gunfire starts happening and, you know, you put a 17, 18 year old in front of gunfire, sometimes they will cry, sometimes they’ll curl up in a ball or sometimes they just freeze. They don't know what to do. The other reaction, they'll just fight. It's a fight-or-flight method. And a lot of them, some of them will fight, some of them will get scared. And that's the type of stuff you need to hash out before you go overseas.
((NATS))
((Reporter))
How does it feel to be on the other side?
((Abigail Bergosa, Army Private, Role Playing Enemy Combatant))
I mean, it feels weird because we are supposed to protect people, but you know, it’s a training as well as to see things from both sides.
((Cody Britton, Sergeant First Class))
After coming here to NTC and then going overseas, I was prepared. It was kind of a culture shock, but it was kind of like, hey, I’m back at NTC again. A lot of things were different, but it wasn’t that sudden, oh, here you are, you know, good luck. And then when stuff kicked off, you know, of course you’re going to get that mindset, but you had the training here and so you were more acceptable of accepting it when you were over there.
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