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Acting lessons

May-30-2005 » Filed Under: 172nd SBCT

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By Joe Darby, The Times Picayune

The angry young man began his protest by beating a stick against the front of the huge Stryker armored vehicle parked by American soldiers on the edge of his village, Wadi al-Tarif.

A soldier warned him away, gesturing and shouting, "Back off, back off!"

But the young man persisted, grabbing a shovel from the side of the Stryker, banging it against the vehicle, then climbing on top. The protester did not speak English.

Not knowing the young man's intentions or why he was so angry, an American sergeant fired a few rounds from his M-16 rifle into the air and ordered the man down. He searched him, arrested him and detained him inside the Stryker.

Wadi al-Tarif will not be found on any world map. It lies on the eastern side of the mythical nation of Talatha, which is spread over 98,125 acres of rolling woodlands and fields on the Army's sprawling Fort Polk. Talatha is the creation of the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, usually one of the last training stops for units preparing to be sent overseas to Iraq or Afghanistan.

A key part of the training is learning to deal with a culture and mores vastly different from those of most American soldiers. The more the soldiers respect the culture, the less likely misunderstandings can lead to confrontations and violence, said Maj. Randy Martin, JRTC spokesman.

"They'll have to deal with subtle challenges in communication that can turn out to be very significant," said Martin, who served in Iraq in 2003.

An essential element of the training is role-playing by what the Army calls foreign-language speakers, about 250 men and women who make up the core of the villagers and townspeople of Talatha. Most of them speak Arabic; many are from Iraq. They are recruited nationwide by civilian contractors. [...]


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