BY MATTHEW LAKIN
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
Sept 20, 2004 12:00 AM EDT
CAMP SHELBY, Miss. – The mob surged toward the barricade, fists in the air.
"Down, down, USA!" came the chant. "Liar, liar, USA!"
One man fired an AK-47 into the air. The U.S. soldiers at the barricade stood silent, weapons at the ready.
The protest wasn’t real, but it’s part of what members of the 278th Regimental Combat Team can expect to face on peacekeeping duty in the mountains of northeastern Iraq. The regiment will deploy there in November.
The men of Troop F, 2nd Squadron, have learned a new style of warfare since they left Bristol Tennessee three months ago.
They learned how to search from house to house in the mock Iraqi town of Trebil. They learned how to fend off mortar attacks and take out enemy snipers. They learned how to spot homemade bombs, how to find and clear an enemy tunnel and how to face down an angry mob.
"A lot of our own military vocabulary has had to change," said Sgt. Bill Musick of Meadowview, Va. "I call it the grunt mindset. Most of us have not had to deal with that before."
The new vocabulary includes such terms as civilian on the battlefield, known by its acronym COB; improvised explosive device, or IED; and entry control point, ECP.
At first the training wasn’t easy for soldiers accustomed to driving tanks.
"Tankers don’t want to get off their tanks," said Staff Sgt. Stacey Farley of Abingdon, Va. "It’s been a rude awakening for some of them."
Most of the troop’s duty in Iraq will be on foot or in Humvees – missions such as guarding convoys and checkpoints, clearing caves and securing hostile territory.
Some of those tactics don’t turn up in the tank manual.
"If you’re running and in tanks, it’s just roll and go," Musick said. "You can’t do that from this aspect. There may be civilians or children. You don’t just bowl through."
Training in the Mississippi heat was hard on some of the troop’s older members, in their 40s and 50s.
"Here I am 40 years old playing infantry," said Sgt. Tony Minnick of Elizabethton, Tenn.
It wasn’t easy for the younger members, either.
"We’ve had people dropping like flies," said Sgt. 1st Class Beecher Powers of Kingsport, Tenn. "The older guys are tough. The guys under 30, you’ve got to watch them."
Most found a way to adjust – although they still miss their tanks.
"At 46 you don’t move as fast as you did at 18, but you move more deliberately," Musick said. "You work smarter and find the shorter, quicker route."
Even their body armor, which wrings sweat from the soldiers, feels more comfortable than it did.
"Now it’s just like putting on a T-shirt," Farley said.
The soldiers had help in their training from hundreds of Iraqi civilians who portrayed hostile protesters and talked with the troops about their country’s customs.
"They can’t go fight in the war, but they can help us be prepared," said Sgt. 1st Class Harold Tucker of Bristol Tennessee.
Dealing with the crowds was one of the hardest things to learn.
"How you react is how they react to you," said Sgt. David Rapcan of Kingsport. "You’ve got people getting right up in your face, and you’re just holding them back. If you react the wrong way, it can get a whole lot of bad really quick."
Soldiers also had to learn that bullets aren’t always a threat. Iraqis often fire into the air as a sign of celebration or protest. Soldiers don’t fire unless the guns are pointed at them.
"Everybody’s done a good job of holding onto their nerves," said Cpl. Kelly Waugh of Abingdon, Va. "The first time, as soon as they brought out the AK-47s, we would have fired. Now we understand it’s part of their culture. Most of the time they’re just venting their frustration, and we’re the nearest thing to vent at."
The soldiers’ last week of training at Camp Shelby included a final taste of Iraq as they stood on guard duty at a checkpoint. Soldiers manned the barricades along the road, while a pair in a tower watched for trouble.
"Stop," signs in English and Arabic warned. "Obey our orders."
Around sunset, the chants started up again.
A crowd of about 30 demonstrators headed for the barricade with cries of "Go home, USA!"
Tucker watched from nearby.
"Sometimes they get really creative," he said. "One day they started chanting, ‘Liar, liar, pants on fire.’ "
Soldiers met the crowd at the barricade to push them back.
"Bush, Bush, Ali Baba (Arabic slang for thief)," came the chant. "Go home, Ali Baba!"
Some of the protesters tried to get around the barricade, swarming into the concertina wire stretched beside the road.
"They try to jump that wire, they fall into it," Tucker said. "They don’t care."
Snipers crept through the woods, poised to fire. One soldier stepped past the wire to force a protester back.
"That guy did wrong," Tucker said. "You never go outside the wire by yourself."
Another soldier stood alone near the edge of the wire.
"They left him by himself," Tucker said. "You don’t ever do that."
One soldier almost was captured, surrounded by a ring of protesters. Two more soldiers broke up the crowd and pulled him back.
He could have faced a mock execution if captured.
"Bush, Bush, Ali Baba!" the crowd chanted.
A woman lurked on the outskirts of the crowd, a cell phone to her ear. A pair of soldiers took her inside the barricade.
"She could be giving orders," Tucker said. "She could be setting off a bomb."
Soldiers picked out members of the crowd, forcing them inside the barricade toward an interpreter.
"That’s what you want to do," Tucker said. "You talk to the leader. You separate the males from the females. You find out what they want."
An engine roared, and shots erupted as a dark van drove past.
The crowd scattered. Soldiers took cover. A protester fell.
Women gathered around him, wailing.
"What they should do is call a civilian medical crew to come out," Tucker said. "We can’t go out there for that. It’s too dangerous."
The crowd, still wailing, picked the man up on their shoulders and bore his body to the wire. The wails turned from grief to anger.
"Back up!" a soldier shouted.
The crowd finally retreated, still chanting and bearing their fallen comrade.
With the crowd gone, the soldiers gathered in the woods for an after-action review led by Sgt. Lemon Price, the observer/controller.
Half the review was praise, half scolding. The men didn’t negotiate with the crowd enough to suit him.
"Don’t ever miss an opportunity to bring in as many leaders as you can," he said. "Remain calm. Tell the crowd what you’re doing and why."
While the soldiers listened and talked, the next shift took over.
Their wait was just beginning.
Soldiers at Camp Shelby speak a language of acronyms that can bewilder outsiders. Here are a few of the more common ones and their meanings.
* AAR: After-action review, when soldiers in training review their response to a simulated attack
* ACH: Advanced combat helmet, equipped with night vision and radio
* CO: Commanding officer
* COB: Civilian on the battlefield, such as an Iraqi protester
* DCU: Desert camouflage uniform
* FOB: Forward operating base, the headquarters used at a remote location
* ECP: Entry control point; a guarded entrance or exit
* IBA: Interceptive body armor, designed to protect the wearer from bullets and shrapnel
* IED: Improvised explosive device; a homemade bomb
* IRF: Initial ready force, stationed on the front line to respond to threats
* MOUT: Military operations in urban terrain, usually against guerrilla fighters; urban warfare
* MRE: Meals ready to eat: the Army’s prepackaged food
* NCIC: Noncommissioned (officer) in charge
* OC: Observer/controller, usually a sergeant who supervises training and leads the after-action review
* OIC: Officer in charge
* OP: Observation post
* POV: Personally owned vehicle, a treasured possession on base
* PT: Physical training; exercise
* QRF: Quick response force, used to reinforce the initial ready force in emergencies
* TRP: Target reference point; any spot on the ground used to determine range of fire
* VBS: Virtual battlefield simulator, a network of laptop computers that allow simultaneous training
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