Hello, Blogging Pals!
I have a few minutes to spare today and I have been wanting to bring you some information that I certainly was not aware of before. I'm betting many of you were just as uninformed. It's one of those things that doesn't get press... but it should.
While I don't remember this, my mother always told the story of my brother and I being warned "Don't talk to strangers!" Our entire yard was fenced with a dirt street out front. The soldiers at Fort Polk held "maneuvers" periodically that brought them into the towns and wooded areas surrounding Fort Polk. While WWII had ended (yep... I'm a "Boomer!") and I can't recall there being an immediate threat during 1955-1960, Fort Polk continued training Army personnel for what might occur. After all, Russia was a looming threat (does anyone else remember "duck and cover" under their first grade school desk?) and it's always best to be prepared. Ask any Boy Scout. Okay... I've gone off on another tangent. Back to the story.
So... on a particularly lovely day in southwest Louisiana, my mother stepped out of the house to check on my brother and I as we played in the front yard. She probably had noticed a large group of Army soldiers out on the dirt road walking past the house. As SHE recalls it (I was too little to remember so I'm going to have to go with her recollection on this one), I was animatedly chatting with a nice young soldier through the wire fence. She came out, acknowledged the young fella', scooped me up (I think I was about 4 years old?), and took me back into the house. She proceeded (as good parents do) to calmly remind me about NOT talking to strangers and about WHY one should NOT talk to strangers. She swears I looked at her with a very straight face and stated "But Momma... he wasn't a stranger! He told me his name!" Is it any wonder you should keep an eye on your kids? At any rate, this was my introduction to soldiering and to Fort Polk. I think it was also my mother's introduction to the fact I would never meet a stranger!
My parents were married in February of 1941... 10 months before Pearl Harbor. My father spent WWII doing interesting work in the DC area. My mother actually worked at the Pentagon... BEFORE it was finished. Yep. She said the best part was she would get to escort people OUT as they would be confused about how to depart and this got her away from her desk for a while. By the time I showed up, the war had been over about 7 or 8 years and peacetime reigned. My dad was not a "lifer" in the service and they had returned to Louisiana to work and raise a family. My brother was of an age to be drafted for VietNam but (fortunately!) had a congenital heart condition that garnered him a 4F rating. I tell you all of this so you will know I have NO military background information and the entire military complex is very mysterious to me.
While seeking employment here in southwest Louisiana, I had a high school pal introduce me to a gentleman who is a government employee at Fort Polk. There are a number of contractors there and they have positions frequently I think I might fill nicely... but getting that "foot in the door" can be tricky. The gentleman I met, Tom, was a VERY interesting individual with a very interesting history. His current job at Fort Polk is even fascinating as he is involved in the "science" part of things. I'll tell you about him some other time as I am already running long.
So... during my "tour" of Fort Polk, a number of things really struck me and my understanding of the reality of war and preparations for war was greatly challenged. Without any exposure to this sort of thing, I'm afraid we frequently just go through our daily lives without a real understanding and/or appreciation for what is taking place outside of our very tiny world. That is why I am compelled to let you all in on the very little bit I saw.
Fort Polk has a very long history and you can read about that, if you're interested. My new friend, Tom, told me it currently consists of about 300,000 acres and they are working to acquire an additional 100,000 acres. I remember driving through it with my parents when I was little and it was just a lot of pine trees, hills, and two-story white barracks... LOTS of them! That has changed. There is a massive amount of construction occurring there even now. But what really caught my attention was the "scenario training" (I don't know what they really call it) that takes place there.
Tom drove me through a couple of "villages" that are set up in the piney woods. There are apparently a number of these set up throughout the vast acreage. The audio/video setup in each of these areas is amazing. We also visited a "city" that was originally designed as a European city but has been somewhat "updated" to resemble more of a Middle Eastern city with a covered marketplace, multiple buildings and streets, and people. Same audio/video setup. There are even tunnel systems set up to challenge the trainees! Whenever a group of soldiers is brought in to experience what might occur when entering an Iraqi (or Afghanistan) village or city, the entire exercise can be captured on film. The entire scenario can be run then revisited for the training purposes. Here is where things were done right. Here is what you missed. Here is why this soldier "died" during the exchange. Here is how you might have done things differently.
Apparently, the soldiers (not just Army but some others as well) are flown into Alexandria, La., where they are boarded on buses and driven straight to the "middle of nowhere!" in the woods to barracks without windows where they will remain until their training rotation ends. They do not see the Fort, the people, or any area other than where they are to train. It is nearly the same as they will experience when they are really flown into Iraq or Afghanistan or wherever they are deployed. Okay... there aren't many pine trees in the Middle East... but that's the only REAL difference! *chuckle*
The people. This is what I really want you to understand. It isn't just a bunch of guys in camo playing soldier with invisible enemies. There are hundreds of civilians from the surrounding towns (Leesville, Pitkin, Rosepine, DeRidder, etc.) who are employed to portray the people of the country the scenario is about. Fort Polk has an entire "barnyard" kept full of animals to be used in the villages... goats... donkeys... chickens... whatever a soldier might see when deployed is what that soldier will see at Fort Polk. The civilians are all dressed in appropriate attire... burkas... headdresses... whatever that soldier might see when deployed. This is nearly a Hollywood-level production in the Army's attempt to make the scenarios as realistic as possible for those brave young men and women who are willing to die for our freedom. Do we owe them any less? HELL NO!!!!
I apologize that I cannot write eloquently enough to allow you to fully realize the scale of this training and the VALUE it holds for these young'uns. I wish I could help you understand not only what I saw but how seriously every single individual involved in this, from trainers to role-players, takes his or her mission... keeping our soldiers alive. About all I can really offer up is a huge God Bless Them All and Keep Them Safe to return to us. Next time you see a service person, just thank them. If you haven't been there/done that, you don't have a clue. I know I still don't... but I realize a little more now... and I'm grateful for that.
Until next time... your newly-educated Blogging Pal...
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