LEARNING THE TRICKS OF THE TRADE

A group of Florida Army National Guardsmen from the 2nd Battalion of the 116th Field Artillery have been busy for the past couple of months preparing for deployment to Afghanastan later this summer, where they will replace regular Army troops and help train the Afghan National Army. The "Weekend Warriors" have been training at Camp Shelby, in south Mississippi near my hometown of Hattiesburg. This site is great because of it's size, as it is one of the nation's largest National Guard training facilities...much of it in the DeSoto National Forest.

This deployment marks the largest such callup of the Florida Army National Guard from Polk County since World War II. But times have definately changed, and a new war means different means of training for these soldiers. Part of that training means learning what NOT to do, as well as what to do...being aware of the cultural nuances of the area. And for this training several Afghan natives are helping to prepare the National Guardsmen for the realities of the area.

This Army "immersion training" is full, and includes some new-fangled things to help bring lessons home, including a specially-designed 3-D "shoot house" and new uniforms designed for camoflauge and comfort.

Nice to know that the Polk-dominated group isn't stuck in the middle of nowhere all the time. They do get to spend some time in Hattiesburg, which is a fairly nice place (too bad they didn't get their training during football season, when they could have seen my beloved Southern Miss Golden Eagles play).

Great work by the Lakeland Ledger writer Diane Lacey Allen, who spent some time at Camp Shelby with the soldiers recently. Two years ago when Operation Iraqi Freedom started, she was embedded with a group of Marines in Iraq.

Also, the Ocala Star-Banner writer Mabel Perez spent some time there in Mississippi as well, and wrote this piece which appeared Sunday.

Of course, while we may argue and disagree over political reasonings and wheather or not we should be here or there, I4J thanks all of our men and women in uniform for their service to the state and nation, and pray for their safe returns.