A contingent of 110 area National Guardsmen are headed to a desert war in a few weeks to face off against an armed and hostile enemy. But the setting won't be Iraq and the combat -- while intensely realistic -- will only be a training exercise.

Soldiers from the 1140th Engineer Battalion's B Company, which primarily has troops from the Jackson and Perryville areas, are leaving Oct. 26 for the infamous Fort Irwin, Calif., National Training Center, where they will be participating in war games for 10 days in the grueling Mojave Desert.

It will be part of the soldiers' annual training and will last three weeks, said company commander Capt. Kevin Compas. The troops will be opposing the 1st Calvary Division, working as an enemy force during extremely lifelike fighting. The 1st Calvary Division will be training before it leaves for Iraq.

"This is the most realistic training the military has," Compas said. "It's as similar to Iraq as it gets. It's good training for those guys who are going to Iraq, but it's going to be great training for us, too."

Fort Irwin is located between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, and the National Training Center offers more than 300,000 desert acres for Army and National Guard units to sharpen their combat skills. The local Guardsmen will basically act as Iraqi soldiers, Compas said, attacking convoys, shooting at 1st Cavalry soldiers and being as disruptive as possible.

Laser battles

The fighting will be simulated with the use of the Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System, Compas said, which is commonly called MILES equipment. Sensor detectors are attached strategically to a soldier's existing gear in plain view. Each weapon is loaded with eye-safe laser "bullets."

"If they shoot us, it shows us being dead," Compas said. "If they damage our equipment or vehicles, it locks it up. It's as real as it can get."

More than a dozen soldiers were working Tuesday to load 51 military vehicles onto rail cars at the SEMO Port Authority. The vehicles will be shipped by rail to Fort Irwin. The soldiers who were there said they were excited by the opportunity for realistic training.

"We can't do things like this at our local training area," said Sgt. First Class Chad Craft of Jackson. "Our country is doing its fighting in deserts, and we train in the woods. We have to worry about civilian traffic, hunters and things like that. It's exciting to see if we're on the right track."

Craft said the soldiers going include combat engineers, equipment operators, cooks, vehicle drivers and administrative and logistical personnel.

Missouri National Guard spokesman 2nd Lt. Jamie Melchert said it offers the local soldiers a tough but needed training opportunity.

"The National Training Center is no joke," he said. "It is harsh and it is realistic warfare. It's meant to be challenging. It is almost an identical environment to Iraq and some other countries that the U.S. is at odds with. The National Guard has to be ready to fight in environments like that one."

But Compas said his men are ready.

"B Company is gung-ho," Compas said. "We're looking forward to it."

smoyers@semissourian.com

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