[padre35]

Curious, does experience on the ground make a Soldier safer in a hostile environment?

Or are these never deployed soldiers trained well enough for Iraq and Afghanistan Duty?

I have no idea which is which and what would be better for all involved.

[frankenMonkey]

Basically, to borrow a phrase from the Navy, it’s “all hands on deck.” With airman and seamen pulling patrol duty in Iraq, there’s no reason for others not to join in.

[maine-iac7]

Or are these never deployed soldiers trained well enough for Iraq and Afghanistan Duty?

WEll, golly gee, if not trained well enough, they could through the same extra training the boots on the ground went through -

[airborne]

They are prepared for their mission before they ship out, just like the men and women before them who went into the combat zone for the first time.

[raynearhood]

Well, obviously they aren’t going to have the experience of a seasoned veteran when they hit ground. However, there will be experienced soldiers there with them that can cut through alot of the BS that soldiers get in training.

(BTW, I was at NTC for train up to this deployment and alot of the training made me laugh as well as angered me. I was getting ready for my third rotation to Iraq and the training was being conducted by a mix of leaders that had deployed and a mix of trainers that hadn’t. Some of the stuff that they insisted on, like indirect fire drills, were straight from the “If Russia Attacks” handbook. In Iraq, you rarely spin up for indirect fire because it’s always poorly aimed potshots mostly numbering no more than one or two rounds at a time. We had a saying “If you hear the alarm, you’re OK.”)

The fight and the battlefield is constantly changing, too. Just eight months ago only one Brigade Combat Team was fully implementing Counter Insurgency principles into their operations. Now, all the BCTs are able to do it as a result of the surge and the intent of senior leaders in Iraq. So, a seasoned soldier that is redeploying after being out of Iraq for 12 months will be walking into a new fight with new principles, and a very different battlefield. Not to worry, though, they won’t go in blindly. There in a handover period where the incoming guys are teamed up with the outgoing guys in order to learn the dynamics of the AO as well as what works and what doesn’t.

[Blood of Tyrants]

From what I have seen and heard, EVERY soldier, regardless of MOS (military occupational specialty), goes through advanced infantry training and urban warfare schools. Locally, the 278th Artillery Brigade went to Iraq as foot soldiers even though their MOS was artillery.

[RobbyS]

Just because you are in Iraq does not necessarily mean you will be in the field.