New Training Village

[SWJED]

13 November Washington Post - General Dynamics To Build Training 'Village' (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/12/AR2006111200778.html) by Nick Wakeman.


General Dynamics Corp.'s information technology unit will build an artificial Middle Eastern village near Amman, Jordan, to be used for urban combat training by the U.S. Army and its close allies.

... will build a village of about 44 buildings, which will have the cinderblock and concrete look typical of the region...

The buildings will simulate homes, apartments, banks, a police station, offices and retail shops, he said. They will be wired with high-tech instruments for day and night video and audio recording. The facility also will include special effects to simulate a battlefield...

In addition, General Dynamics will build a course at the facility for training in high-speed driving and a simulated airport including an airliner and an air traffic control tower.

The site will serve as the regional hub for urban warfare training of both U.S. and allied forces in the Middle East...

[979797]

So, anybody wanna tell me now that we AREN'T planning for a permanent footprint on the ground in the Middle-East?

I now have rotations to Amman, Jordan to look forward to in addition to Graf and Hoenfehlls. Except there's no beer in Amman, Jordan. Great. :)

[selil]

This I have (now) some knowledge of... These types of training facilities are popping up all over. It's sort of becoming a cottage industry serving realistic training environments for troops in a variety of missions. I've read several essays, papers, monographs, and training documents talking about a total lack of facilities that meet the small unit needs.

[Jedburgh]

...I now have rotations to Amman, Jordan to look forward to in addition to Graf and Hoenfehlls. Except there's no beer in Amman, Jordan. Great. :)
...if you can't get a beer in Amman its because you're restricted to the training area and your command won't permit you to drink during the training rotation.

Amman ain't Saudi - there's plenty of places to get a drink. You can drink with expats at the Sheraton, the Dove or the Liwan - or you can drink with locals at the (much seedier) bars downtown. If you're going to go bar-hopping in Amman you damn sure need a designated driver - you do not want to be hailing a taxi from a bar when drunk in Amman...

[jonSlack]

Jordanians teach American troops cultural awareness (http://www.arcent.army.mil/news/archive/2006_news/april/jordanians_teach.asp)

This 44 building area is most likely being to built to be used by students attending the Peace Operations Training Course as well as Jordanian Special Forces. The high speed driving course may be used by POTC students but the simulated airport is definetly only for the Jordanian Special Forces in my opinion.

979797, if the 44 building area is a tie in to the POTC you do not have to worry about rotations there. The audience is not complete units, only individual NCOs and Officers and the training concentrates on cultural awareness instead of TTPs.