Destination: Iraq

Fri., Aug. 20, 2004

The Spokesman-Review

Destination: Iraq

Since July, the soldiers of the Idaho National Guard’s 16th Armored Cavalry have been training to go to Iraq. When the brigade deploys sometime in November, its soldiers will have spent months learning how to survive combat in harsh conditions.

During training at Fort Bliss, the soldiers from North Idaho and elsewhere have been living in a make-believe world that resembles Iraq. For the next three days, Spokesman-Review reporter Kevin Taylor and photographer Colin Mulvany will follow the more than 2,000 Idaho Guardsmen as they conduct night training exercises, sleep 450 to a tent, and deal with temperatures as hot as 116 degrees.

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