Soldier preps to go to Iraq

By MICHAEL TOLZMANN
For the Stafford County Sun
Published: July 24, 2008

FORT IRWIN, Calif. — The soldier son of a Stafford couple will soon serve in Iraq. But to see him, you’d think he is already there. He patrols Arab villages in the desert where locals living there wear long, loose-fitting Arab clothing and scarf-like head covers. He stands among Iraqi natives as Arabic calls to prayer can be heard over loud speakers.

Army 2nd Lt. John S. Flanagan, son of John and Mary Flanagan, Bismarck Drive, Stafford, is in the Mojave Desert learning from 1,300 American soldiers functioning as “opposing forces” along with 250 Arabic-speaking Iraqis who test and challenge soldiers like Flanagan for the likely situations they’ll face in the war zone.

Mock Arab village streets are lined with simulated roadside bombs, along with Arab-dressed soldiers who sometimes act friendly and sometimes act like terrorists. These villages create the look and feel of being in Iraq and prepare soldiers like Flanagan for their service in Iraq.

“We’re conducting company-level training and also as a whole brigade. My current duties are to plan the battalion’s future operations and track where soldiers from the battalion are located,” said Flanagan, a 2000 graduate of Salem High School in Virginia Beach. He went on to graduate in 2004 from Marywood University in Scranton, Pa.

Hollywood makeup artists use their industry’s most convincing fake blood on amputee actors to add to the realism of simulated roadside bomb attacks by role-playing enemy insurgents. Flanagan takes his training here seriously with the goal of learned experiences that could help save American lives in Iraq.

“It’s important to train here since it is the most realistic training there is in the states. I’ve learned how to plan for operations and be able to factor in all of the same factors as those units already in Iraq,” said Flanagan.

The Army’s National Training Center at Fort Irwin is well suited to duplicate the natural environment in Iraq. Situated near Death Valley, the center has 1,200 square miles of nothing but desert wilderness where approximately a dozen simulated Arab villages have been built. Each village has a different look and feel, providing different situations to learn from for soldiers like Flanagan and his colleagues from 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division from Fort Carson, Colo. They’ll soon be walking village streets in Iraq.

“The training area here is much like what we’ll find in Iraq. It’s the desert, so it’s hot and windy. The landscape is open and they have villages in the training area that have role players living in the villages,” said Flanagan.

For the moment, Flanagan and the others in training will interact with Arab civilians or simulated enemy combatants during this highly specialized training, but Flanagan has a traditional Army background.

“I’ve been in the military for almost two years. I’ve gone to Army schools at Fort Benning, Ga., Fort Sill, Okla., Fort Knox, Ky., and now I’m stationed at Fort Carson,” said Flanagan. His next stop is Iraq.

At first glance it may appear Flanagan is already in Iraq. But with the efforts of soldier-actors in an artificial environment, it is hoped the experiences learned in the Mojave Desert will help save lives in a desert land known to be lethal.