"Theater immersion" training at Fort Hood

Houston Chronicle:

With guidance from war-hardened Army instructors from Houston, hundreds of mobilized reservists are enduring a demanding new version of combat training that mirrors many of the dangerous conditions in Iraq.

"Theater immersion" is being pushed by Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, who directed the military's hurricane response last year and now oversees Guard and Reserve training.

The aim is to "train like you're going to fight," Honore, commander of the First U.S. Army, said during a visit Thursday. "We try to create an environment that makes them think they're in Iraq by creating some of the scenarios they will face."

That approach is two centuries old in the U.S. military, but the degree of realism now is unprecedented, officials said. The 2,500 troops of the 36th Combat Aviation Brigade assembling here for summer deployment are living in stark conditions similar to U.S. forward operation bases in Iraq and they're constantly being primed to react to threats and attacks.

"When something happens, we want the instinct of that soldier to kick in. It has to be intuitive," Honore said, adding that only with repetitive training is that achieved.

The task of preparing the brigade for combat was assigned to the Reserve's Houston-based 75th Division (Training Support), whose leaders described the mission as one of the most significant in its history.

"This is the largest and most complex training event that we've been part of," said commanding Maj. Gen. Steven P. Best. "We have a skeleton crew back on Old Spanish Trail who are continuing day-to-day operations, but most of the division headquarters and its staff are here coordinating the training."

Houston-based trainers also are assigned to other mobilization stations.

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"The enemy that we're dealing with is very adaptable and very smart, so we need to have realistic and challenging training to make sure that we're over-prepared, over-trained," Sevier said.

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