STAFF WRITER
CAMP McGREGOR, N.M. - The buildings are low, square, with graffiti scribbled in Arabic on the walls. Two women in scarves and robes step onto a sandy street. Nearby, a man in an Arab headdress with an AK-47 semiautomatic rifle ducks behind a wall.
Just another day of training for the New Jersey National Guard as it prepares for duty in Iraq.
As part of a strategy to inject realism into preparation for the deployment, the Army built "Al Hadiz," a small mock-village on a road leading to an old missile test site at this base in the New Mexico desert.
Each day, soldiers practice patrolling streets, searching homes and even trying to speak a few words of Arabic; local residents and retired soldiers play roles that range from ordinary Iraqi villagers to gun-toting insurgents.
The goal is for soldiers to learn how to quickly assess danger - not easy, says training coordinator Maj. Shawn Johnson.
"We're trying to teach them how to safely approach and clear a room," said Johnson. "This is one of the most difficult jobs any soldier has to learn."
CAMP McGREGOR, N.M. - The buildings are low, square, with graffiti scribbled in Arabic on the walls. Two women in scarves and robes step onto a sandy street. Nearby, a man in an Arab headdress with an AK-47 semiautomatic rifle ducks behind a wall.
TYSON TRISH/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Members of Delta Company practicing in the mock Iraqi village Al Hadiz at a New Mexico base with an actor playing an Iraqi.
Just another day of training for the New Jersey National Guard as it prepares for duty in Iraq.
As part of a strategy to inject realism into preparation for the deployment, the Army built "Al Hadiz," a small mock-village on a road leading to an old missile test site at this base in the New Mexico desert.
Each day, soldiers practice patrolling streets, searching homes and even trying to speak a few words of Arabic; local residents and retired soldiers play roles that range from ordinary Iraqi villagers to gun-toting insurgents.
The goal is for soldiers to learn how to quickly assess danger - not easy, says training coordinator Maj. Shawn Johnson.
"We're trying to teach them how to safely approach and clear a room," said Johnson. "This is one of the most difficult jobs any soldier has to learn."
