Army Creates Realistic Training in Germany

Some 1,000 civilians from the surrounding area populate the villages during exercises and interact with the American troops through interpreters — speaking German, not Arabic — to add realism.

After Hill fired warning shots over the truck, AK-47s poked out of the windows and fired back. Needing no more excuse, Hill unloaded 150 7.62mm rounds into the truck — blanks, of course, but effectively "killing" the truck for the exercise.

"We have a lot of new people so it's helping to remember to do my soldier role first — making sure the area's secure before I'm running out to save someone, while the young guys are saying "go, go, go — he needs help!" I've got to get the adrenaline under control."

Pumped up by the exercise, Hill said he now felt better about heading to Iraq for the first time.U.S. troops have long trained at Hohenfels, meeting mock Soviet soldiers during the Cold War and later preparing for combat in the Balkans.

Al Dwar — the focus of Lt. Maravilla's patrol — is little more than a dozen wooden shacks and a handful of green Army tents.

Some 1,000 civilians from the surrounding area populate the villages during exercises and interact with the American troops through interpreters — speaking German, not Arabic — to add realism. They play police officers, mayors, sheiks, villagers, and, of course, insurgents, who can "kill" U.S. troops by hitting sensors the soldiers wear with lasers.

"It's probably as close to the real thing you can get without going to Iraq," said Pfc. Bobby Brown, a 23-year-old medic from St. Louis, Mo., who was with the 1st Infantry Division in Iraq from February 2004 to March 2005.

"It's guaranteed," said Pvt. Joy Joseph, a soft-spoken 18-year-old medic from Brooklyn. She has spent most of her time at Hohenfels screening "prisoners" for injuries, and said she has learned how to work through an interpreter and benefited from the experience of other soldiers who have been to Iraq.

"Those who have been downrange (to Iraq) say the men there don't expect a woman to be in a position of authority, so you have to make it clear that you're in charge," she said.

"So far I like it, what we lose in armor we make up in speed," he said. "We snuck up on an RPG team the other day just like that."

About three hours into the patrol, the situation changed suddenly when a blue pickup truck appeared from around a corner, then spun around and fled. The Humvee gave chase.

"It makes me very confident knowing that the equipment works and my training's good."