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Learning the ropes on the front lines

Nov-17-2004 » Filed Under: 172nd SBCT

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By Beth Ipsen, Fairbanks News-Miner

University of Alaska Fairbanks journalism student Casey Grove stood in a corner and recorded events unfolding before him as soldiers interacted with a group of Muslim villagers.

"There's a lot of people surrounding the sheik now," the reporter murmured into a hand-held tape recorder. "They're trying to make sure he doesn't move into a dangerous area."

Minutes later, Grove and an officer discussed how far he could venture out into the hostile village.

"I want to go hide behind that overturned car because it looks like such a battle zone," Grove said.

First Lt. Anthony Demattis of A Co. 2-1 Infantry Battalion shot Grove a wary glance and told him if he ventured beyond the car he might get shot.

Though the scene that played out Tuesday was just an exercise held on the Fort Wainwright Army Post, it reflected new realities of the modern world for both soldiers and reporters. The practice of embedding reporters, popularized in the siege of Iraq last year, means new realities for both groups.

In Tuesday's drill, Grove was one of three journalism students role-playing with Fort Wainwright soldiers. They're part of a University of Alaska Fairbanks journalism class called Pen and Sword that concentrates on reporting on the military.

The soldiers of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team learn how to interact with media to simulate the degree of complexity they'll have to deal with on the battlefield in Iraq and Afghanistan. Soldiers are learning to give interviews, sometimes in the midst of a battle. Demattis shrugged and called this "just multitasking." As he talked, his eyes scanned the area around him.

"As long as it doesn't get too crazy and they don't take off running some place I wouldn't run, it's all good," Demattis said about the embedded reporters. "They're not going to do something to get themselves injured. They might do something by accident, but anybody could do something by accident."


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