In Rush To Iraq, Army Units Skip Training

Two Combat Brigades Being Deployed To Baghdad Without Usual Desert Training

(AP)  Rushed by President Bush's decision to reinforce Baghdad with thousands more U.S. troops, two Army combat brigades are skipping their usual session at the Army's premier training range in California and instead are making final preparations at their home bases.

Some in Congress and others outside the Army are beginning to question the switch, which is not widely known. They wonder whether it means the Army is cutting corners in preparing soldiers for combat, since they are forgoing training in a desert setting that was designed specially to prepare them for the challenges of Iraq.

Army officials say the two brigades will be as ready as any others that deploy to Iraq, even though they will not have the benefit of training in counterinsurgency tactics at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., which has been outfitted to simulate conditions in Iraq for units that are heading there on yearlong tours.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said Monday she is concerned about the "less-than-ideal training situation" for the 4th Stryker Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division, which is based in her state and is one of the two brigades that did its final training at home. That brigade is to go to Iraq in April, one month earlier than planned.

The other is the 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division, based at Fort Stewart, Ga., which is due to go in May for its third combat tour since the war began in 2003. Instead of going to the National Training Center first, it imported personnel and equipment — even Toyota pickups like those used by Iraqi insurgents — from the training center at Fort Irwin for two weeks of final rehearsals that begin Wednesday.

A spokesman for the brigade, Lt. Col. Randy Martin, said the soldiers lose nothing by the switch, while shaving about two weeks off their pre-deployment training schedule.

"It's realistic training," he said. "I don't think that anyone would say readiness is affected" negatively. He noted that another brigade from his division underwent similar home-station training before it deployed in January.

"The preferred method is to have them come here," a spokesman at the National Training Center, John Wagstaffe, said in a telephone interview Monday. The main things that cannot be replicated in a home station exercise are the vast spaces of the National Training Center, which is located in the Mojave Desert, and the weather and other environmental conditions that so closely resemble much of Iraq, Wagstaffe said.

"Your weapon won't jam from sand at Fort Stewart," he said.

Murray said she does not doubt the ability of soldiers to adapt.

"They have done everything we have asked of them," she said. "However, I am deeply troubled by the president's escalation plan and am committed to questioning the new demands it places on service members."

On a visit to the brigade's home station at Fort Lewis last week, Murray asked the top commander there, Lt. Gen. James Dubik, whether the soldiers' preparation for Iraq was adequate without going to the National Training Center, according to a Fort Lewis spokesman, Lt. Col. Dan Williams, who said he attended Dubik's meeting with Murray.

Dubik assured her it was, William said. The general told her he was confident "that they were ready to go" to Iraq even if they had not had 1,300 soldiers imported from the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk to play the role of Iraqi insurgents and civilians and to observe and control the mission rehearsal exercise.

"They went through all the things they know they're going to do in Iraq," Williams said.

Some outside observers say it was inevitable that, in a pinch, the Army would tinker with training.

"It tracks with what we should expect when we hurry the units up in their last three months" before a deployment, said Kevin Ryan, a retired brigadier general and former Army planner who is now at Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Army commanders are compelled to make "economies," he added, when an accelerated deployment plan forces them to compress some aspects of training.

Ryan said he doubts this approach will significantly detract from the soldiers' degree of preparation for Iraq.

" 'Adequate' is probably a good description of what that training is," he said. "It's not the premier kind of situation that commanders would prefer, but it is adequate."

Daniel Goure, a military analyst at the Lexington Institute, a think tank, said, "This shouldn't have a decisive impact, although it carries a modicum of risk."

The two units that are skipping their National Training Center sessions are among five Army brigades that are being dispatched to Baghdad on an sped-up schedule as the centerpiece of President Bush's new approach to stabilizing Iraq.

The first to go, in January, was an 82nd Airborne brigade specially designated for short-notice deployments; it did no full-scale final exercise before deploying to Kuwait and then into Iraq.

The next two, from Fort Benning, Ga., and Fort Riley, Kan., did their final training sessions at the National Training Center. The unit from Fort Riley is entering Iraq now and the other is due to arrive in March.

[karlimhof]

sent without desert training? are we completely out of gas ?

[bm6005]

Duuhhhhh!!!!!!! Any wonder why?

[grazinggoat]

What difference deos it make to have a trained or an untrained GI when they are blown-up by a suicide bomber?
This is an indication to the priority of Walking-Liar and co, is not to establish order and security in Iraq, but rathar to gain the government contracts to the Haliburton group and subsidiaries... GI's flesh on the ground... and inflaming the hatred toward insurgents... translating into more budgets justified to hike Iraqi security.

Message to Walking-Liar. Get the hekk us outathere ... alive! Now.

[annd2302]

I flat cannot believe I just read this article. Was this published in the United States? Looks real communist to me. Third world ***. Surely I%u2019m dreaming. Wake me up, tell me it was a joke! ! !

S. Turner
Master Sergeant (Retired)

[bluestardad]

President Bush is holding Hostage all the America Troops in the Iraq War Theater by indicating that if Congress Cuts funding for the His Iraq War Plan he will leave the troops over there anyway without supplies and equipment they need, instead of bringing them home. Is that anything other than kidnapping or hostage taking? Supporting the Troops does not mean Supporting the War in Iraq or the Bush Idea of the War in Iraq! There is a difference! It is bad enough that the Bush Administration sent the troops to Iraq on false pretences, ill equipped and ill prepared with no end game plan. The Rovian spin of a Congressional Vote against the Bush Iraq war scenario is a vote against the Troops just validates the Bush Administration resolve to Hold the Military Troops Hostage to his Iraq war plan regardless of the will of America and its elected representatives.

Bush is playing all of us against each other! In one hand he is touting the Red White and Blue war on Terror against everyone who attacked us on 911 and on the other hand he is funding Al Qaeda to destabilize other governments in the Middle East! Here is the stream read it yourself!

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/070305fa_fact_hersh

Just copy up to the Hersh on the news stream this web site is adding a n on the end of the paste!

SO DO SOMETHING EXCEPT SIT ON THE COMPUTER AN COMPLAIN! Write Congress Now! http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

[gkc99]

Curious how the "pro-military" Repubbies, who have controlled the US government since 2000, have done nothing to beef up the Army. Rather, their pathetic efforts have led to this understaffed, underarmed fiasco in Iraq. It's not just the lack of body and Humvee armor--it's an overall shortage of personnel. The Repubbie Chickenhawks strut around like little roosters, but when it comes to actually supporting the soldiers, they don't do Bushit.

[bildooreilly]

%u201CMilitary men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy.%u201D
~ Henry Kissinger

[us_infidel]

Another CBS/AP hit piece. Desert training is WAY different from the close in combat of Iraqi city fighting.

Are you folks blindfolded from the inside of your heads???

[cathaleen]

Yeah! that great, who's the genius that decided that? We'll be looking at many more deaths and casualities. I sure hope they can live with that.

[randalds]

" 'Adequate' is probably a good description of what that training is. It's not the premier kind of situation that commanders would prefer, but it is adequate."

Military analyst Daniel Goure

Will the funerals be "adequate" when these troops die because of poor training? Several reports have already shown that the rehabilitation of our wounded troops is pathetic, so at least, at the very very least, will the funerals be "adequate"? Can we at least expect that?

[gkc99]

US_infidel--guess there are none so blind as those who will not see, like yourself. The bottom line is a thinly stretched military that is the result of 6 years of big talk and no action by Bushit neocons. Can't blame it on Pelosi, Kennedy, or Hil, no matter how much you squawk. Nope, your boy Bush is a major f***up!

[musty2u]

There was a time when every soldier finishing basic training was pretty adequately trained. A lot of major engagements were handled with troops thus trained. What is the matter with the soldiers these days? Are they forgetting what they learned? Did they not think it was real?

[rharrin1]

The troops don't matter stay the course.

[getcentered]

Please, someone tell where the CENTRIST Republicans are?

Many Americans today have been enlightened by the two wars we find ourselves involved. One war, the "war on terrorism", finds its main battleground in Afghanistan, and it is a war that costs lives and money but the majority of Americans support. Liberals, Democrats, Republicans, Conservatives, most don't have a problem with us kicking down the doors of members of the Taliban.

When talking about the war in Iraq the parties have much difference. Democrats say that the public and congress was mislead to justify the war in Iraq and that the Bush Administration no longer deserves autonomy in situations where US service men and women's lives are on the line. Based on the results of the last Congressional elections, most Americans see a problem with GOP/Republicans; at least in the way they make decisions about the use of our military.

So why is it that in the GOP/Republican party there are no dissenters, no independent thinkers, no moderates? Where are the real conservatives who would laugh at how conservatively the current Republican party has been spending taxes, and creating big government? Has the Republican Party lost its identity? Can the ideology of the GOP be so easily summed up in Karl Rove talking points like %u201Csupport this and support that%u201D, and angry rhetoric like %u201Cliberals are traitors%u201D?

Hello centrist Republicans! Anybody out there?

Hey bush...make sure you send our troops into Iraqs civil war without body armor and unarmored humvee watermelons,....AND ignore the vets coming back horribly MAIMED.....and you know make them stay in roach and rodent infested dorms with no elevators.....Yeah...thats SUPPORTING OUR TROOPS ALLRIGHT!

[agnim]

U.S. Urged to Reveal Whereabouts of Prisoners Held in Secret Jails


More information has come to light about the CIA's network of secret overseas prisons. A Palestinian man named Marwan Jabour has told Human Rights Watch that he was held in a secret US prison in Afghanistan for nearly two years. According to Jabour, his clothes were taken from him when he arrived at the prison. He was left completely naked for a month and a half. He was chained tightly to the wall of his small cell so that he could not stand up. He was placed in painful stress positions so that he had difficulty breathing. And he was told that if he did not cooperate he would be put in a suffocating %u201Cdog box.%u201D For two years Jabour spent nearly all of his time alone in a windowless cell, with little human contact besides his captors. Jabour said, %u201CIt was a grave. I felt like my life was over.%u201D Based in part on information provided by Jabour, Human Rights Watch has released the names of 38 men believed to have been held in secret CIA prisons who have since disappeared. The group is calling on President Bush to account for the disappeared %u2013 all of whom are Muslim men

[musty2u]

Agnim, you mean they weren't even given a Red Cross tooth brush? Hey, maybe somebody has seen a serious side to things.

[bm6005]

there was a time when every soldier finishing basic training was pretty adequately trained. A lot of major engagements were handled with troops thus trained.
Posted by Musty2U

Wrong! No one went before AIT or an MOS training course. Basic was as it states, BASIC!

[gkc99]

Training, Shmaining! Just round up some of those disloyal hippies antiwar democrats and put them in position for the IEDs! Or maybe some of you gung-ho neocons on this thread can join up to offer your bodies as cannon fodder, you know, save a few 19 year olds lives! Yeah, right, about the same time Jenna and Barbara Bush sign up, I guess.

[terrapin78]

Hello centrist Republicans! Anybody out there?

That's like asking for moderate Muslims to stand up.

[observantx]

%u201CArmy officials say the two brigades will be as ready as any others that deploy to Iraq, even though they will not have the benefit of training in counterinsurgency tactics at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., which has been outfitted to simulate conditions in Iraq for units that are heading there on yearlong tours.%u201D

Gee, why does this not surprise me at all?

It is no surprise; because this has been how this misbegotten illegal war has been conducted from the get go. Rummy started the mismanagement and it has persisted despite the public outcry against wasted opportunity and money, unarmored vehicles, sitting duck tactics, and overextended and exhausted soldiers.

Since we apparently don%u2019t have to train anyone any more to fight in Iraq, that means we can send anyone over to audition as a bomb detonation device. I nominate the following to go immediately, since no training is needed: George %u201Cda King%u201D Bush, Darth Cheney, Condi Rice, Doug %u201CFaux Intel%u201D Feith, Karl %u201CTurdblossom%u201D Rove, William %u201CI never met a necon plot I didn%u2019t like%u201D Kristol, Tony Snowjob, and any other hot to trot for Iraq chickenhawk in the White House or the Koolaid Kongress.

[weywmtb]

rharrin1 says the troops don't matter, please send your loved ones to Iraq. They are all that matters anymore. These are our children and our future, and if we continue the course that has been set forth United States is headed for some very dark times.

[agnim]

Israel Seeks More U.S. Military Aid


A high-level Israeli delegation is in Washington this week to ask the Bush administration to give Israel more money in military aid. Israel currently receives $2.4 billion in military aid annually %u2013 more than any other country. Israeli officials are hoping for extra aid in part to compensate for the cost of last summer's 34-day Lebanon war.

[pakaal]

"To point out that our military has been overextended, taken for granted and neglected, that%u2019s no criticism of the military. That is criticism of a president and vice president and their record of neglect."
-George W. Bush, 2000

Talks the talk, but....

[zootallures2]

The US is run by lying corrupt crack pots just like any other organization. No one really cares and no one really does much about it. So what is the big deal about this? What ever you are doing is wrong. Bush, Putin, Blair, Chavez, Osama, Nazrallah, Olmert... they are all the same. They all created 9/11 and all these wars because they are nuts like you.

[skyk-2009]

***There*** ***was*** ***a*** ***time*** ***when*** ***every*** ***soldier*** ***finishing*** ***basic*** ***training*** ***was*** ***pretty*** ***adequately*** ***trained***. ***A*** ***lot*** ***of*** ***major*** ***engagements*** ***were*** ***handled*** ***with*** ***troops*** ***thus*** ***trained***. ***What*** ***is*** ***the*** ***matter*** ***with*** ***the*** ***soldiers*** ***these*** ***days***? ***Are*** ***they*** ***forgetting*** ***what*** ***they*** ***learned***? ***Did*** ***they*** ***not*** ***think*** ***it*** ***was*** ***real***?
***Posted*** ***by*** ***Musty2U*** ***at*** ***02***:***18*** ***PM*** : ***Feb*** ***27***, ***2007***

***I***'***m*** ***a*** ***Combat*** ***Veteran*** ***of*** ***Vietnam*** ***and*** ***what*** ***you*** ***say*** ***is*** ***just*** ***plainly*** ***not*** ***true***. ***We*** ***went*** ***through*** ***basic*** ***then*** ***ITR*** ***after*** ***that*** ***we*** ***had*** ***speciality*** ***training*** ***involved*** ***for*** ***a*** ***wide*** ***range*** ***of*** ***different*** ***weapons*** ***systems***, ***radio***'***s***, ***missle*** ***launchers*** ***and*** ***so*** ***many*** ***other*** ***weapons*** ***and*** ***systems***. ***I***'***m*** ***afraid*** ***all*** ***BASIC*** ***did*** ***in*** ***the*** ***USMC*** ***was*** ***get*** ***your*** ***body*** ***in*** ***physically*** ***good*** ***shape*** ***and*** ***teach*** ***you*** ***to*** ***act*** ***and*** ***think*** ***like*** ***a*** ***unit***. ***True*** ***we*** ***had*** ***a*** ***week*** ***on*** ***the*** ***Rifle*** ***Range*** ***but*** ***that*** ***HARDLY*** ***get***'***s*** ***one*** ***in*** ***a*** ***condition*** ***to*** ***deal*** ***with*** ***Combat***. ***Maybe*** ***you*** ***should*** ***get*** ***your*** ***head*** ***out*** ***of*** ***Fuax*** ***News*** ***and*** ***Google*** ***a*** ***LITTLE***!!

[skyk-2009]

***Another*** ***CBS***/***AP*** ***hit*** ***piece***. ***Desert*** ***training*** ***is*** ***WAY*** ***different*** ***from*** ***the*** ***close*** ***in*** ***combat*** ***of*** ***Iraqi*** ***city*** ***fighting***.

***Are*** ***you*** ***folks*** ***blindfolded*** ***from*** ***the*** ***inside*** ***of*** ***your*** ***heads***???
***Posted*** ***by*** ***US_Infidel*** ***at*** ***01***:***25*** ***PM*** : ***Feb*** ***27***, ***2007***

***LOL*** ***Sure*** ***and*** ***I***'***ll*** ***bet*** ***you*** ***think*** ***the*** ***Insurgency*** ***will*** ***be*** ***eliminated*** ***in*** ***just*** ***a*** ***day*** ***or*** ***so*** ***huh***? ***Sorry*** ***Sparky*** ***but*** ***CBS*** ***has*** ***one*** ***hell*** ***of*** ***a*** ***lot*** ***more*** ***creditability*** ***right*** ***now*** ***than*** ***anyone*** ***in*** ***the*** ***Bush*** ***Administration***.

[skyk-2009]

***flat*** ***cannot*** ***believe*** ***I*** ***just*** ***read*** ***this*** ***article***. ***Was*** ***this*** ***published*** ***in*** ***the*** ***United*** ***States***? ***Looks*** ***real*** ***communist*** ***to*** ***me***. ***Third*** ***world*** ***. ***Surely*** ***I***%***u2019m*** ***dreaming***. ***Wake*** ***me*** ***up***, ***tell*** ***me*** ***it*** ***was*** ***a*** ***joke***! ! !

***S***. ***Turner***
***Master*** ***Sergeant*** (***Retired***)

***Posted*** ***by*** ***annd2302*** ***at*** ***01***:***08*** ***PM*** : ***Feb*** ***27***, ***2007***

***Yeah*** ***yeah***! ***Do*** ***you*** ***have*** ***a*** ***shrine*** ***to*** ***Old*** ***Joe*** ***McCarthy*** ***in*** ***your*** ***basement***? ***Sparky*** ***this*** ***garbage*** ***went*** ***out*** ***in*** ***the*** ***60***'***s***. ***Grow*** ***up*** ***for*** ***God*** ***sake*** ***and*** ***smell*** ***the*** ***coffee***. ***IF*** ***you*** ***are*** ***who*** ***you*** ***say*** ***you*** ***are*** ***and*** ***as*** ***a*** ***Sgt*** ***in*** ***the*** ***USMC*** ***I*** ***find*** ***that*** ***EXTREMELY*** ***unlikely***, ***you*** ***would*** ***KNOW*** ***we*** ***are*** ***under*** ***the*** ***command*** ***of*** ***a*** ***patheticly*** ***incompetent*** ***little*** ***southern*** ***fascist*** ***who*** ***couldn***'***t*** ***carry*** ***the*** ***shoes*** ***of*** ***such*** ***greats*** ***as*** ***FDR*** ***or*** ***Harry*** ***Truman***. ***Sieg*** ***Heil***

[musty2u]

Skyk I was a corpsman for your sorry a*s*s in RVN so live with the fact your situation wasn't what others might have had. Face it. They are putting whimps on the ground today.

[bluestardad]

What kind of bologna post is that?

[macusweil]

Bush / Cheney was again demonstrate failure of leadership at the highest levels..

The neo.cons cry.. "support our troops!!"

unless of course we need them right away to sand bag our previous dismal failures in the Iraq conflict then it becomes.. "throw 'em head first, save our *ss!!"

[musty2u]

Been kinda trippy today with stars in all the spaces Some are solid though

[bm6005]

No what I believe the problem is is concentrated at the upper levels of the beaurocracy. Never since Viet Nam have I seen or read about such incompetence in the military civilian leadership. Quit blaming the people at the bottom you jacka$$. It's total, incompetent leadership!!

[wizest]

Got to replace the Brits somehow real quick.

[kstrisha]

Quote my husband's response to this article:

You are expendable.

You have a rifle.

Now kill the enemy before they kill you!

--------

This is true. We know a young man who just turned 17 in January and was shipped off 3 days after his birthday. He went through boot camp last summer when he was 16 and was still in high school. As soon as he dropped out and turned 17; he was shipped directly to Iraq.

[micmdkff]

That is not unusual to modify training schedules. Most Guard and Reserve Units never see Ft Irwin prior to deploying to Iraq. All training is done at mobilization stations.

[kstrisha]

Quote my husband's response to this article:

You are expendable.

You have a rifle.

Now kill the enemy before they kill you!

--------

This is true. We know a young man who just turned 17 in January and was shipped off 3 days after his birthday. He went through boot camp last summer when he was 16 and was still in high school. As soon as he dropped out and turned 17; he was shipped directly to Iraq.

[j-whitman]

Is this what you Bush supporters call "Supporting Our Troops" ??? --- Sending them into a war zone illprepared ?????

[j-whitman]

Is this what you Bush supporters call "Supporting Our Troops" ??? --- Sending them into a war zone illprepared ????? --- Let me guess what your answer is, Training our troops will raise our taxes, right ??

[terrapin78]

No, it must be Clinton's fault.

It is Clinton's fault that the Bush Administration is sending untrained troops into battle because righties think everything is Clinton's fault.

They should look elsewhere and acknowledge that Bush and Company have phuked up royally!

[terrapin78]

The Party of personal responsibility.

Give me a F----in break.

[j-whitman]

No more mountain training or amphipious trainging either -- Bush wants them only to have OJT as he had as "Decider".

[rharrin1]

About time everybody started understanding that bush doesn't care about the troops or anybody else.

[j-whitman]

It's shocking anyone wants the GOP on the 08 ballot at all ---- Iraq is a Failure, Afaganistain Faiing,, Republicans support Bush in giving New York & New Jersy to the UAE (Sunni's) & fighting in Iraq for the Sunni's, not to mention funding radical Sunni Muslems in thier ops against Iran.
... Who's the Enemy here ??? -- 9/11 Terrorist where Sunni's & most from the UAE,, OBL is Sunni.

[rharrin1]

Father and son bush have been sleeping with BinLadens for years. Ask yourself this who gave permission for a plane load of BinLadens to take off day after 9/11 when all U.S. flights were grounded.

[acauble1]

MAY THE BLOOD OF THESE SOLDIERS BE ON THE HANDS OF GEORGE W. BUSH AND EVERYONE WHO SUPPORTS THE 'SURGE' POLICY!

[mrvolleyba11]

Kstrisha your full of ***... no 16 year was in Active duty boot camp unless they had fake documents, probably was high school ROTC camp. They will accept 17 year olds only with PARENT permission into active duty. And what does the age of this person have to do with anything in this article? remember its an ALL volunteer force, if you go in to the military you may do it for college money, to get out of your town, or for patriotic reason; but you have to remember whatever your reason for joining that the military's job is to fight wars, to sign up take the money every month and then say you want out or ain't going because you think it is an unjust war is balony!!!

There are a lot of people in the military that think we need to be in Iraq until it is secure and that more troops will help!

[lars008-2009]

Appeal for Redress
Sign this Appeal.
This site is an Appeal For Redress in support of our mission in Iraq.
An Appeal For Redress is an authorized means for active duty military to submit a grievance to Congress. It can be signed by Active Duty, Reserve, or National Guard military personnel.
It is authorized by DoD Directive 1325.6 and DoD Directive 7050.6.

The wording of the Appeal for Redress is:
As an American currently serving my nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political leaders in Congress to fully support our mission in Iraq and halt any calls for retreat. I also respectfully urge my political leaders to actively oppose media efforts which embolden my enemy while demoralizing American support at home. The War in Iraq is a necessary and just effort to bring freedom to the Middle East and protect America from further attack.
If you are active duty, reservist or national guard, please Sign this Appeal.
Most service members fully support the war in Iraq and feel calls to retreat by Congress and attacks by our media on our conduct and mission act to motivate our enemy while demoralizing our support at home, directly increasing the threat we face and resulting in greater American casualties. This Appeal for Redress provides a way in which individual service members can appeal to Congress to fully support us and actively oppose media attacks on our mission and our morale.
This Appeal will be delivered to members of Congress.
http://www.appealforcourage.org/

[mrvolleyba11]

If you were in a war zone would you feel better having 100 fellow soldiers around than say 10? the answer to crime in US Cities is to fund more police but I don't hear any one complaing about too many police on the streets. its called strength in numbers all you idiots!!!

[j-whitman]

Lars,,,, It's shocking anyone wants the GOP on the 08 ballot at all ---- Iraq is a Failure, Afaganistain Faiing,, Republicans support Bush in giving New York & New Jersy to the UAE (Sunni's) & fighting in Iraq for the Sunni's, not to mention funding radical Sunni Muslems in thier ops against Iran.
... Who's the Enemy here ??? -- 9/11 Terrorist where Sunni's & most from the UAE,, OBL is Sunni.

BUSH HAS CUT OUR TROOPS TRAINING,, DOESN'T THAT MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU ??