In the Mojave, an Army dress rehearsal for Afghan war

Army soldiers fire live artillery shells during a session at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif.

(Credit: U.S. Army)

FORT IRWIN, Calif.--The shoulder-launched rocket-propelled grenade was aimed at several U.S. Army soldiers trying to work their way through the chaos of an Afghan insurgent attack. This was not looking like a good day for the members of the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.

Fortunately for those soldiers, the RPG wasn't real, and they weren't even in Afghanistan -- yet. They will be soon, though. But before deploying to the combat zone, the entire 4th Brigade from Fort Lewis, Wash., spent three weeks in the June heat of the Mojave Desert at the Army's National Training Center here, a facility in the middle of terrain -- harsh desert and even harsher mountains -- that is much like that in Afghanistan.

Since 1981, Fort Irwin has been home to the NTC, as it is sometimes called, a small city about 30 miles northeast of Barstow, Calif. There, every month, a new Army brigade of 6,000 soldiers pulls into town, toting all their vehicles, equipment, and gear, for three grueling weeks that will prepare them for their imminent deployment.

As part of Road Trip 2012, I spent a day at the National Training Center to see what the Army's brigades must go throug... [Read more]