Giving new meaning to the phrase ‘on the job training’

March 1, 2007

We learned this week that two Army combat brigades, which were supposed to have been trained for the war in Iraq at the Army’s premier training range in California, don’t have time anymore. The National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., had been “outfitted to simulate conditions in Iraq for units that are heading there on yearlong tours,” but Bush’s escalation policy demands quicker deployments.

As a result, one brigade from Washington state and another from Georgia — neither of which is similar to Iraq in any way — will be deployed sooner than expected and without the benefit of training in the heat and sand.

“The preferred method is to have them come here,” a spokesman at the National Training Center, said in a telephone interview Monday. The main things that cannot be replicated in a home station exercise are the vast spaces of the National Training Center, which is located in the Mojave Desert, and the weather and other environmental conditions that so closely resemble much of Iraq, said John Wagstaffe.

“Your weapon won’t jam from sand at Fort Stewart,” he said.

[Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.)] said she does not doubt the ability of soldiers to adapt. “However, I am deeply troubled by the president’s escalation plan and am committed to questioning the new demands it places on service members.”

White House Press Secretary Tony Snow was asked about this yesterday. His response was less than encouraging.

Q There was also a report this morning that two Army combat brigades are being sent to Iraq without desert training — the Associated Press has a story out today — and that it’s because they’re being rushed to Iraq to help get the surge in place.

MR. SNOW: Again, let me stress, what happens is, a lot of times you will also do training in theaters, as well as equipping in theater. The generals have made it very clear, and military commanders have made it clear, nobody is going to go into combat activity without proper equipment and training. Period. So if things —

Q But the story flatly says that two brigades are going in without desert training in California. So that doesn’t sound like —

MR. SNOW: All right, I understand.

Q — they’re getting the training.

MR. SNOW: Well, but they can get desert training elsewhere, like in Iraq.

Got that? The White House believes U.S. troops can prepare for combat in Iraq by actually going to Iraq.

The troops are going without the equipment they need and without the training they need. Just another example of how much the Bush administration “supports the troops.”

What is the matter with Congress? Are they afraid to fund this BS? How is letting something like this support the troops? Stop funding the war until the thugs in the White House get real. We may not have a super-majority, but we do have enough bodies in the Senate to stop funding this fiasco.

  • Tony doesn’t get the fatal difference between routine training for a soldier and on the job training for troops. If you make a mistake in routine training you become smarter and live another day. When getting trained on the job, a mistake, as Tony so eloquently stated a while a ago, makes a soldier “just a number” as a fatality statistic.

  • How is letting something like this support the troops?
    oops! That’s a typo. I should have written: How does funding something like this support the troops? Sorry. Guess I was so angry I saw red and went blind.

  • I say Tony needs some on-the-job deep sea diving training.

    He’ll figure it out.

  • This is interesting (from the Snowjob transcript):

    MR. SNOW: Well, as you know, sometimes, for instance, when we have senior administration officials who will brief in this room, it is important for matters of confidentiality, in terms of — they’re able to be more open with you, as senior administration officials, and also it denies people an opportunity perhaps to — in any event, I’m not going to get — look, I’m not going to get myself stuck in the endless sort of spin cycle of trying to deal with rules on senior administration officials. If you would like those briefings to cease, we could probably make that happen, but I think you would be poorer for it, and we would, too.

    Poor little dirtbag, caught in his own spin cycle.

    (apologies to dirt in bags everywhere)

  • Ahhh. So I suppose that means those two entire brigades will not see combat patrols in Iraq until they’re fully trained-up. Riiiight.

  • “And I wonder, still I wonder, who’ll stop the rain…”

    This reminds me again of what I READ about Vietnam (and I’m a Gen X’er.) One of the stupidest stories I ever read was from Col David Hackworth, who wrote about training soldiers destined for Vietnam at Fort Lewis in Wash. State during the winter instead of some place like Hawaii or Panama.

    Problem with OTJ Training in wartime is that most mistakes are fatal ones.

  • The White House believes U.S. troops can prepare for combat in Iraq by actually going to Iraq. — CB

    The more of them leave for Iraq without training and equipment, the fewer will come back to pester Walter Reed et al. How else, do you think, could Bush afford to cut the veterans’ health care funding?

  • Hei, stop whining, you go to war with the training you have, not with the training you wish you had. Right? Riiiight?

  • On job training is important, but surely you dont want to train your people on the battlefield where one mistake could get you killed. Anyways I am not qualified enough to comment on this topic. I was merely doing a job training related search when I came accross this article.

    I would like to sure the link that I managed to find. It’s an excellent artlcle dealing with gaining experience during your career. Hope you find it as useful as I did:
    http://www.cvtips.com/training_during_career.html

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