Idaho Guardsmen learn new skills used for situations in Iraq

FORT BLISS, Texas — Idaho Guardsmen in the 116th Armor Cavalry Brigade in the transition from mechanized infantry to foot soldiers are learning new, unconventional ways of warfare.

Outside the front gate of their fortified compound at Fort Bliss, Texas, the Army built a scene of an Iraqi village.

Soldiers from Colorado’s 91st Training Division will pretend to be Iraqis in the village.

Idaho Guard members, who usually sit in armored vehicles, will soon have up to 80 pounds of battle gear strapped to their bodies and be prepared to fight insurgents in the streets of Iraq.

“It’s a new skill set for these guys and something they typically don’t do it at all,” said Brig. Gen. Alan Gayhart, of Boise, the 116th’s commander.

“They know this is serious stuff now,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Henry Chin, of Boise.

“They’re not going to go out there and train and then go home in two weeks and forget everything.”

In the three month training at Fort Bliss, soldiers will drill on weaponry at firing ranges, learn maneuvers and how to search buildings in building mock-ups and do other tasks in a training regimen customized from the military’s experience in Iraq.

“We will be on the cutting edge and as prepared as anyone going in,” Gayhart said.

“We are prepared to conduct any mission that any other Army unit is asked to do.”

Former Army Ranger Spc. Tommy Dobbs, of Boise, said he is learning different methods of fighting.

He said he would typically use grenades and automatic weapons to clear a building, but since insurgents live and interact with innocent civilians, that may not be possible.

Gayhart said the Guard’s citizen soldiers are accustomed to dealing with civilians.

Several members are civilian police officers and some are members of SWAT teams specializing in urban assaults.