Back in Germany, they train others on Afghan warfare. Here, they’re the students.

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An Afghan man watches as soldiers from 1st Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment soldiers pass in Mizan District, Afghanistan, in December. When not deployed, the 1-4 soldiers act as the opposing force that helps trains U.S. troops in Hohenfels, Germany.


Back in Germany, they train others on Afghan warfare. Here, they’re the students.
By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, January 2, 2008

ZABUL PROVINCE, Afghanistan — When you are battling Taliban insurgents, it helps if you know how they think and how they fight.

For soldiers from Company A, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment in southern Afghanistan’s Zabul Province, thinking and fighting like an insurgent is second nature.

The unit’s regular mission at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany, involves role-playing as insurgents during exercises for other units bound for Iraq and Afghanistan.

On a typical day in Hohenfels, the 1-4 troops can be seen dressed in turbans using AK-47 machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades to stage mock attacks on American forces, then blending in with other role players acting as civilians on the battlefield.

“We are used to firing AKs and RPGs, and now we have M-4s. It’s easier to understand mind-set after acting as one of them,” said Spc. Dale Belt, 24, of Buna, Texas, an intelligence analyst with Company A in Afghanistan.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=51367