This past Tuesday I was honored to be part of a group of Edelweiss employees that traveled to Hohenfels, Germany to the Joint Multinational Training Center to learn about the training that American, NATO, and troop contributing nations receive before heading down range.
A group of about 30 Edelweiss employees and I made the three and a half hour drive north to the training area. The training area is the largest in Europe and the second largest in the world at about five by seven kilometers. After our police escort to the headquarters building we got a welcome from a civilian and several Army leaders which included history of the bases in Europe and their locations based on the wars but to the development of the training center. We then got back on the bus and headed to the IED School where soldiers learn about different technology that is used to make these bombs and the military tools to detect and disarm them. We got to set off 4 IEDs using different types of triggers as well as viewing a suicide bomb vest and small car bombs. The training center has several small "cities" that are used to simulate conditions down range. We visited a building that is used to train soldiers how to clear a residence and again got to make things go boom. When I say we set off these bombs a charge when off, but nothing got blown up. We then got to climb in some tactical vehicles to see what they are like then it was time for lunch at the chow hall. There were more options than Market Station and the consensus was that it was better than Market Station as well. After stuffing ourselves we went to the computer simulator facility where we were broken up into teams of 3 and assigned to a vehicle for our "mission" of a presence patrol through the computer rendition of one of the "cities" in the training center. Lets just say we needed some more practice! We then toured the actual buildings that make up this city as well as one of the camps where the soldiers live for their 3 weeks of training that is almost identical to what they will find down range.
The whole experience was very eye opening and interesting and I am even more grateful for what all the soldiers endure during their tour.
Pictures... http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2094991&id=44801562&l=7bafb40124
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