Allegations that Marines killed unarmed men, women and children in Haditha are prompting questions about whether U.S. troops get proper training for a war against insurgents who walk freely among Iraqi civilians. The military has adapted its training, but troops say no one arrives in Iraq completely ready for the complexity and stress of a guerrilla war in which insurgents are loosely organized and fight with hit-and-run tactics on the streets of cities crowded with innocent bystanders. "Nothing is going to prepare you," Spc. Travis Gillette, a 26-year-old Army infantryman from Coldwater, Mich., said as he pulled deeply on a cigarette. "You can train up all you want, but you're not going to be prepared until you get here and mingle with the culture."
The brass does try to prepare soldiers and Marines, though. From changes in boot camp, where recruits learn the basics of fighting in Iraq, to advanced training centers that teach commanders about urban insurgencies, the U.S. military has tailored its training at home for the mission in Iraq. |