Part 1: Fort Polk Trains Troops for Iraq

Department of Defense Photo Essay

  • A role-playing Iraqi commander briefs Iraqi and American leadership for a night mission to pick up a high-value target in the fictional Iraqi town of Sadiq during a training exercise for 82nd Airborne Division's Company D, 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team on Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, La., May 12, 2009. The brigade is scheduled to be the first externally augmented advise-and-assist brigade to deploy to Iraq to train and enable the Iraqi Security Forces to assume the leadership role in the security of their country. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Michael J. MacLeod
  • A medic waits for orders as company leaders assess the next step in a night mission supporting role-playing Iraqi army troops during a training exercise at the Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, La., May 12, 2009. The soldier is assigned to 82nd Airborne Divison's Company D, 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Michael J. MacLeod
  • U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Chris Kompier provides backup security next to a gun truck for Iraqi army role player troops engaged in clearing the fictional Iraqi village of Sadiq during a training exercise at the Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, La., May 12, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Michael J. MacLeod
  • U.S. paratroopers evacuate a notionally wounded Iraqi army role player during a training exercise at the Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, La., May 12, 2009. The soldiers are assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division's Company D, 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Michael J. MacLeod
  • An Army medic treats a notionally wounded gunman role player while a notionally deceased gunman role player slumps in the foreground during a training exercise in which troops cleared the fictional Iraqi village of Sadiq on Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, La., May 12, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Michael J. MacLeod
  • U.S. Army Spc. Joseph A. Mahalovich teaches role-playing Iraqi army troops how to take photographs for evidence after the Iraqis cleared the fictional Iraqi village of Sadiq during a training exercise at the Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, La., May 12, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Michael J. MacLeod
  • A role player acting the part of an American journalist interviews a role-player serving as an Iraqi army commander who led his troops on a mission to clear the fictional Iraqi village of Sadiq during a training exercise on the Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, La., May 12, 2009. In the background is U.S. Army Capt. Donald J. Dangler, commander, 82d Airborne Division's Company D, 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team which provided training, backup, and medical treatment for the mission. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Michael J. MacLeod
  • U.S. Army Spc. Cory Alverson of 82nd Airborne Division's Company D, 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team mans a guard tower of a joint combat outpost at sunset at the Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, La., May 12, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Michael J. MacLeod