Army Trainers to Become Fighters in Iraq [Blackhorse at NTC Ft. Irwin replaced by NG troops]

Los Angeles Times ^ | Oct 17, 2004 | Louis Sahagun

[Mike Fieschko]

FT. IRWIN, Calif. — The Army calls it "The Box," a vast battleground in the heart of the inhospitable desert dotted with dusty villages marked up in Arabic graffiti declaring, "Saddam Hussein, the Great Arab."

But this desert is the Mojave, not the Iraqi. And it is where Army ground troops come to get a glimpse of future assignments in the Middle East.

For years, The Box has been a stage for the Army's elite "opposition force" — soldiers expert at assuming the roles of enemy fighters, be they the Taliban or Iraqi insurgents. Their mission is to toughen new soldiers with elaborate simulations — staging sniper fire, riots, suicide car bombings and potentially dangerous culture clashes.

Staging such scenes has long been the work of the fabled 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, or Black Horse Regiment. But starting next month, the 3,500-member unit will begin shipping out to Iraq from the Ft. Irwin National Training Center, near Barstow.

[snip]

"No one ever thought the Black Horse would be taken out of the National Training Center; they are just too valuable here," said Maj. John Clearwater. "But the Army is stretched too thin, and Iraq is a big mission."

[snip]

But Brig. Gen. Robert W. Cone, Ft. Irwin's commanding officer, said sending the regiment to Iraq makes sense.

"Is it a real unit or not?" he asked. "It's real, so they will go and serve, and it will increase their credibility when they return. They are one of the most storied patches in the Army inventory, and now they need to share the burden."

[snip]

Each month, the fort trains 4,000 to 5,000 soldiers from other installations. Among other things, GIs learn to shoot to kill from a convoy barreling along at 50 mph and how to spot an improvised bomb.

[Mike Fieschko]

Some interesting comments about this by Philip Cater at Intel Dump.

[STD]

Sounds like the Pentagon has decided to pull no punches. I would have put these guys in play earlier.

They had better be used as convoy ambush bait. Otherwise they won't be anymore valuble than the NG convoy units that are getting hit so much.

Kinda like those fake cargo tankers that really were armoured cruisers in disguise. They killed a bunch of German commerce raiders and U-boats.

DrMike

[Arrowhead1952]

There is a support battlion from Texas that is headed for NTC for 18 months. They are scheduled to leave Texas in Jan 05.

[Madstrider]

The BlackHorse to the insurgents and terrorists, in the words of Josie Wales, "Dying ain't much of a livin' boy."

[datura]

I wonder if they're going to use captured Iraqi equipment? That would really screw up the terrorists.