‘Iraqi village' resides at Fort Irwin By Daniel J. Calderón ![Contractors work on the simulated Iraqi village known on Fort Irwin, Calif. as Medina Wasl, in August. The village is scheduled for completion in February 2008. It is designed to simulate a typical Iraqi village area and will be used to train troops before they are deployed overseas. Contractors work on the simulated Iraqi village known on Fort Irwin, Calif. as Medina Wasl, in August. The village is scheduled for completion in February 2008. It is designed to simulate a typical Iraqi village area and will be used to train troops before they are deployed overseas.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090109034801im_/http://www.spl.usace.army.mil/cms/images/stories/newscastle/oct2007/village1_sm.jpg) Contractors work on the simulated Iraqi village known on Fort Irwin, Calif. as Medina Wasl, in August. The village is scheduled for completion in February 2008. It is designed to simulate a typical Iraqi village area and will be used to train troops before they are deployed overseas. Not too many people would expect to see an Iraqi village in the middle of the Mojave Desert – especially not on an active U.S. Army base in California. However, on Fort Irwin, that is exactly what is there. In the desert on this Army base sits a simulated Iraqi village built by the Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District.
“The Joint IED Defeat Organization [JIEDDO] has asked us to create a training environment that will allow them to test some new technology that will help defeat these roadside bombs,” said Col. Thomas H. Magness IV, commander for the L.A. District.
The village, known on Fort Irwin by the Iraqi name Medina Wasl, will ultimately have 13 buildings. The Corps awarded the contract for the project in August 2006. Construction for Medina Wasl began in February and is scheduled for completion in February 2008. The village simulates a developed section of Baghdad, complete with shops, apartments and light industrial areas.
![Contractors build up the outer walls of the simulated Iraqi village located on Fort Irwin, Calif. during construction efforts in August. Construction began in February and is scheduled to be complete in February 2008. The village was designed and has been built to Iraqi standards with the exception of the supports which were built to withstand the seismic activity in the area. Contractors build up the outer walls of the simulated Iraqi village located on Fort Irwin, Calif. during construction efforts in August. Construction began in February and is scheduled to be complete in February 2008. The village was designed and has been built to Iraqi standards with the exception of the supports which were built to withstand the seismic activity in the area.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090109034801im_/http://www.spl.usace.army.mil/cms/images/stories/newscastle/oct2007/village2_sm.jpg) Contractors build up the outer walls of the simulated Iraqi village located on Fort Irwin, Calif. during construction efforts in August. Construction began in February and is scheduled to be complete in February 2008. The village was designed and has been built to Iraqi standards with the exception of the supports which were built to withstand the seismic activity in the area. Soldiers who use the village can better train for situations they will be likely to encounter during an Iraqi deployment. The ‘training environment’ mentioned by Magness consists of buildings designed and built to Iraqi construction standards. According to base officials, approximately 5,000 Soldiers per month use the facilities on Fort Irwin. There are ten rotations a year at the National Training Center (NTC) there. Each rotation consists of a week preparing equipment, two weeks of training and then a week for redeploying equipment and personnel back to home station. The villages being built by the Corps will be an improvement for the Soldiers who train at NTC. “When we first had the villages, we bought sheds from Shed World,” said John Wagstaffe, public affairs officer for the base. “Although not terribly realistic, it was a beginning. Then we moved to long shipping containers. This was followed by putting stone siding on the shipping containers. At each step the villages took on a more realistic look.” The buildings are not the only way the NTC approximates Iraq in California for Soldiers’ training. Actors and role players add to the realism of the simulation by portraying an assortment of Iraqi villagers. This allows the NTC to better replicate the “sounds and smells” of Iraq.
![Col. Thomas Magness IV, district commander for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District, inspects the inside of one of the buildings of the simulated Iraqi village on Fort Irwin Calif. during his visit to the facility in August. The village will be used by the National Training Center on Fort Irwin to train deploying troops and by the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization to test anti-IED technology. Col. Thomas Magness IV, district commander for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District, inspects the inside of one of the buildings of the simulated Iraqi village on Fort Irwin Calif. during his visit to the facility in August. The village will be used by the National Training Center on Fort Irwin to train deploying troops and by the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization to test anti-IED technology.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090109034801im_/http://www.spl.usace.army.mil/cms/images/stories/newscastle/oct2007/village3_sm.jpg) Col. Thomas Magness IV, district commander for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District, inspects the inside of one of the buildings of the simulated Iraqi village on Fort Irwin Calif. during his visit to the facility in August. The village will be used by the National Training Center on Fort Irwin to train deploying troops and by the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization to test anti-IED technology. “The footprint for the village came from actual satellite imagery of Baghdad,” said Capt. Seth Henson, acting resident engineer at For Irwin. “The L.A. district worked with [the Corps’ Engineer Research and Development Center] to ensure the construction design was authentic to Iraqi standards. Everything is authentic to the dimensions. Parsons, the contractor, has extensive experience building in Iraq. They contacted their experts in Iraq. They had their people bring back samples from Iraq to make sure we matched what we were building.” The JIEDDO can use the unique construction in order to better understand how developing technology can be used to defeat improvised explosive devices currently being used in Iraq said Christine DeVries, JIEDDO Public Affairs Officer. The JIEDDO was created in October 2003 by the Army Chief of Staff to organize Army efforts to eliminate IED threats, recommend best available responses to commanders and coordinate testing, development and fielding of selected devices and technology. Even with the attention to detail given by the Corps and the contractors, not everything will be just like Iraq. Henson said the construction materials and basic style will emulate Iraqi techniques. However, because Fort Irwin is on seismically active land, the buildings needed some stabilization. ![Capt. Seth Hanson, acting resident engineer at Fort Irwin, Calif., explains to Col Thomas Magness IV, district commander for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District, how the simulated Iraqi village on Fort Irwin, built by Corps contractors, approximates aspects of actual Iraqi construction. The reproduction includes emergency escape tunnels built into walls and floors as they would be in authentic Iraqi buildings. Capt. Seth Hanson, acting resident engineer at Fort Irwin, Calif., explains to Col Thomas Magness IV, district commander for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District, how the simulated Iraqi village on Fort Irwin, built by Corps contractors, approximates aspects of actual Iraqi construction. The reproduction includes emergency escape tunnels built into walls and floors as they would be in authentic Iraqi buildings.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090109034801im_/http://www.spl.usace.army.mil/cms/images/stories/newscastle/oct2007/village4_sm.jpg) Capt. Seth Hanson, acting resident engineer at Fort Irwin, Calif., explains to Col Thomas Magness IV, district commander for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District, how the simulated Iraqi village on Fort Irwin, built by Corps contractors, approximates aspects of actual Iraqi construction. The reproduction includes emergency escape tunnels built into walls and floors as they would be in authentic Iraqi buildings. “We’re in a Seismic Zone Four here in Fort Irwin. That’s the highest level,” said Randi Elder, project manager for the Fort Irwin project. “For the Iraqi village, even though we’re simulating the Iraqi construction, we still have some reinforced columns in the corners because of the liability issues that we have.”
One of the main issues involved safety. Elder said the Corps has taken steps to ensure the safety of contractors on the work site. “We’re doing very well with safety,” Elder said. “The contractors we have out here are excellent. We always have pre-construction meetings to discuss safety and environmental concerns.” Henson said they have completed more than 186 days on the job without a safety issue or lost-time accident. Fort Irwin Soldiers plan to get much use out of the new village when it is complete. Currently, they are training at another facility on base. “The villages are critical to giving soon-to-deploy Soldiers training in how to fight both the kinetic and non-kinetic battle in Iraq or Afghanistan” Wagstaffe said. “It is the next best thing to actually training in Iraq or Afghanistan. We learned long ago when the NTC was founded that you must train as you will fight with realism in every aspect of the training.” |