Fort Polk, Louisiana (2004)
In 2004, I went to Louisiana after reading about the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) at Fort Polk. At the JRTC, US soldiers and National Guardsmen experience realistic combat training before heading to Baghdad. With a rotating cadre of 1,200 military and civilian participants, the reenactments simulate high intensity situations that soldiers will confront on the ground in Iraq. Among the role players are 200 Arabic-speaking volunteers, including a number of Iraqi and Kurdish immigrants.
USA. Fort Polk, Louisiana. March 2004. The scene being played out shows the 'Imam' negotiating with the "villagers" who are protesting the troops presence.
USA. Fort Polk, Louisiana. March 2004. Khalid, a Kurd originally from Dahok, northern Iraq, is searched by troops. He previously was a department manager at the WalMart department store in Dallas, Texas.
USA. Fort Polk, Louisiana. March 2004. US Military prepares new troops at the "Joint Readiness Training Center," in the mock Iraqi village of Jarbar Nahr. 1200 "role players" have been hired to recreate the conditions that soldiers will face when dispatched to Iraq. Here they are being held for interrogation, following a search for an arms cache in their village.
USA. Fort Polk, Louisiana. March 2004. Manfried, a local Louisiana retired mechanic, is a hired "role player" to help recreate the conditions that soldiers will face when dispatched to Iraq.
USA. Fort Polk, Louisiana. March 2004. US Military prepare new troops at the "Joint Readiness Training Center", in the mock Iraqi village of Suliyah. Soldiers wear laser-sensitive devices (MILES) that beep when hit by sniper fire to recreate the conditions that soldiers will face when dispatched to Iraq.
USA. Fort Polk, Louisiana. March 2004. Local citizens from Louisiana are hired as "role players" to help recreate the conditions that soldiers will face when dispatched to Iraq.
USA. Fort Polk, Louisiana. March 2004. Freddie, holds his new identity card. He is a former Marine from Mississippi, who was working as a shipping agent previously.
USA. Fort Polk, Louisiana. March 2004. US Military prepares new troops at the "Joint Readiness Training Center," at a mock Propane Station. 1200 "role players" have been hired to recreate the conditions that soldiers will face when dispatched to Iraq. Here, Hukmat, a Kurd from Zakho, northern Iraq, is searched when approaching the troops in charge of security. He has lived in the US since 1994, making computer component parts in Atlanta, Georgia.
USA. Fort Polk, Louisiana. March 2004. The man in the background wearing a blue robe is called Larry he comes from Florien, Louisiana and has been a role player for 6 months, he formerly works as a construction manager.
USA. Fort Polk, Louisiana. March 2004. Soldiers wear laser-sensitive devices that beep when hit by sniper fire to recreate the conditions that soldiers will face when dispatched to Iraq.
USA. Fort Polk, Louisiana. March 2004. Soldiers wear laser-sensitive devices that beep when hit by sniper fire to recreate the conditions that soldiers will face when dispatched to Iraq.
USA. Fort Polk, Louisiana. March 2004. Soldiers wear laser-sensitive devices (MILES) that beep when hit by sniper fire to recreate the conditions that soldiers will face when dispatched to Iraq.
USA. Fort Polk, Louisiana. March 2004. US Military prepare new troops at the "Joint Readiness Training Center," in the mock Iraqi village of Sadiq.
