DJIBOUTI, (nsidesomalia.org) – The beginning of May here is marked by soaring temperatures, often surpassing 100 degrees by 10 a.m. Most people would seek the comfort of an air-conditioned office and a refreshing swallow of ice cold water. Instead, about 120 military members from the United States and France set out to live and operate in one of the world’s harshest environments, the desert and mountains of Djibouti.

The French have maintained a military presence in Djibouti for the last 150 years, and they often use the unforgiving and rugged terrain to help train their troops for various engagements around the world. The past two years, Americans deployed to Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa have been afforded the opportunity to participate in the French run training.

The officer in charge of desert survival training, French Marine Capt. Emmanuel Nielly, 5th Regiment Overseas Infantry, spoke about how the training emphasized more then just surviving in the desert. “You need to be able to live for long periods of time to accomplish the mission with little to no logistical support in the desert,” he said. “This training is designed to give you the tools to survive for extended periods of time, off the land if needed.”

The training was broken down into two phases. The first five days the French cadre gave classes ranging from the slaughter and field preparation of a goat, to field cooking, to land navigation, to collecting water in the field. The second phase moved into the tactical portion, this is where the students put into practice the lessons they learned in the first half of training.

Four platoons made up the student body, three French and one American. Students spent most of the day under their improvised shelters, trying to keep out of the oppressive heat of the sun. Early mornings and evenings were set aside for classroom instruction. The night was when the physical nature of the course tested every member of the training.

The second night of training involved night navigation using the global positioning system. Students hiked upwards of 17 km through the Djiboutian mountains on this moonless night.

“The night movement was stressful, it felt like it would just never end,” said Air Force Maj. Karen Davis, deputy director CJ9, CJTF-HOA. “The mountains and uneven walking surfaces combined with no illumination from the moon, made the movement extremely difficult. At times you were not sure where you were placing your foot, it made for a long night.”

During the night land navigation course, the first American service member was injured. On the steep slopes of the mountains, he lost his footing and fell face first cracking two teeth and receiving a minor concussion. The Soldier’s injuries were minor, but this incident gave the students pause.

“It was tough, towards the end every step was a challenge,” Davis said. “My feet had blisters, the fatigue started to affect my body, at this point it was just determination keeping me going.”

The Americans left their base camp at 7 p.m. and did not return until 2:30 a.m. The students went to sleep, only to be awakened three hours later for the next day’s events.

First thing each morning during the first phase of the training, each platoon rotates through the four different camp sites designated by the French instructors. Each of these camp sites pose different challenges for the students to construct their improvised shelters before the day’s blistering heat bakes the desert sand.

After establishing the camp site, the platoons met up with their instructors, this time for a daytime navigation course. This would be a timed event; students were racing against the clock and each other.

Nine waypoints were set in the student’s GPS and they set off to cover about seven km. Most students covered the course in little more then an hour.
Lance Cpl. Tyler J. Barry, 8th Provisional Security Company, reflected on the two land navigation exercises, “This was a good chance for most of us to brush up on basic land navigation skills using a GPS.

The night-time hump was hard, but having the GPS made it a little more bearable, it helped to keep us on course.” There was a downside to using the technology, added U.S. Army Sgt. Thomas I. Meade, Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division (The Old Guard), from Phoenix, Ariz., “We relied on the GPS without having the maps to plot out our course.

Taking a direct path might be the shortest path from point A to point B, but it is not always the wisest. Normally you want to use a topographical map in conjunction with a GPS to plan out your route to avoid obstacles or in this case steep climbs and drops in the terrain elevation.” After completing the second hike of the training, the students retreated to their shelters to wait out the hottest part of the day under the protection of their make-shift canopies.

The next few days brought a reprieve from walking, but now classes focused on the next phase of training. Tactical operations became the focal point for the students. Many of the students’ primary job in the military is infantry, but for some like Davis, it was her first real taste of combat operations. Still, many seasoned veterans said they gained some new insights from the lessons.

“The French do things a little differently from the U.S. military, but there were enough similarities between our doctrines that most of us were able to adapt,” Meade said. “But what really sparked my interest was the class on booby traps. Here the French taught us how to use fragmentation grenades and smoke grenades to mark our lines and help defend our positions.”

One of the final classes the students received prior to moving onto phase two of training was the camel convoy class. During the next phase of training part of the distance would be traveled with camels hauling some of the heavier equipment through the desert and mountains. During this class students learned about various aspects of the camel and how it might affect them during the upcoming marches.
With the first five days of training behind them, the four platoons broke down their respective camps for the final time, packed their gear and started to prepare mentally and physically for the grueling road marches they were about to encounter.

As the sun dropped behind the mountains, each platoon set off on a 24 km. journey. With only their assault packs on their back filled with the remainder of the nine liters of water each students was rationed for the day, their initial thoughts were mixed.

“I did not think it was going to be that hard, our packs were light, but the terrain and the speed of the movement made the trip harder then I thought it would be,” said Lance Cpl. Ryan A. Wentzel, 8th PSC, Alpha Company. “The slow pace was coupled with frequent stops because of medical issues. We brought enough water for the hump, but with the added hours tacked on because of the medical situations most of us were running out of water by the end of the march.”
Wentzal, a reservist in the Marine Corps works as an emergency medical technician in the civilian world and he took up the role of “doc” during the training for both the American and French service members. During this long maneuver, three American servicemembers fell out, two from dehydration and one because of his feet.

By the time the Americans made it to their next encampment they only had one hour before the sun began to rise.

“We had to set up our shelters before the heat of the day got too much to handle,” said Army Capt. Joseph E. Nickel, 3rd platoon leader, Delta Company, 1st battalion, 3rd infantry division. “Once the shelters were fixed we prepared our fighting positions.

The men dug holes to take cover in, they prepared our lines with the improvised traps we learned about in the first part of training and then tried to get some rest.”

Rest was elusive for most of the troops; the heat was scorching, climbing to 120 degrees or more in the direct sunlight. Not only did the heat hamper their efforts to rest, but a constant vigil was maintained for fear of simulated attacks from the French cadre.
The next four days allowed the students to apply the knowledge they learned in the beginning of the course. Meal time became a tedious chore of slaughtering, cleaning and cooking the goats supplied to them by the instructors. Everyone took turns. People were always fixing a fighting position, preparing the next meal, or going out on a patrol. In between each evolution, platoon members tried to catch a minute or two of sleep.

When night fell for the first time the cadre attacked the camp.
“There was some confusion,” said Meade. “The limited communications made a difficult situation even harder. During this first attack we had a patrol doing recon for the area. They were able to press the attack from another sector. But in a real-world situation it might have turned out deadly with the limited communications we had.”

Nickel touched on the communication problem as well, “There were not only internal communication issues, but the language barrier also played a major factor hampering a coordinated defense with the French platoons on our flanks. In reality this is something we could face in a real-world contingency. Many of our allies do not speak English, to this situation is based firmly in reality.”
The instructors try to challenge the troops going through the course to think boldly, Nielly said.

“Sometimes the students turn the tables on the cadre, sometimes they surprise us,” he said. “This time the American platoon had a patrol out on the second night here and found the instructor’s car.

They took all the paperwork, blank ammunition and set booby traps on the vehicle. When the cadre drove off they were greeted with a bang. That is a good thing, it allows for free thinking and it keeps my cadre on our toes.”
The next morning when the instructors came to inspect the site, they had to ask for all their items back.

“Knowing we got the upper hand on the people running the course made me smile,” Meade said. “It was gratifying knowing we were able to strike back at the attackers.”
The last two days of the course proved to be the most difficult. The entire company packed up camp and hit the rock laced road. The pace was slow, this time there were camels in tow. Each camel carried about 150 lbs. of gear and water. To complicate matters, the entire force was attacked during the march, forcing the company to react to contact in the pitch black of night.

Early the next morning the caravan proceeded on; this time to they would be pressing the attack, one final attack on the cadre’s base of operations. Just prior to 10 a.m. the sounds of the blue dummy grenades could be heard exploding, piercing the dead silence that was in place seconds ago.

Heads of the French led platoons popped over the ridgeline with additional grenade exploding on the mountain side. Bursts of automatic gunfire screeched through the morning sun. Then over the mountain, the American platoon led the charge into the camp, one-by-one picking off the simulated enemy.

In less then 10 minutes from the opening explosion, the company of students captured the enemy encampment. A few of the students, both American and French had to be treated by the medical staff for dehydration after the assault. One of the French soldiers was medically evacuated by helicopter.

“Overall the assault went well, but again communication issues bogged down the attack,” said Nickel. “The plan was also cobbled together at the last minute. We did not know the French had already devised an attack plan, so we came up with our own. It wasn’t until shortly before the attack was to proceed did we have to scrap our plans and learn the French’s plan.”

The final push came at sunset, a 22 km. trek across foreboding terrain. The terrain they were humping over was like God himself threw up dirt, rocks and mountains and let them land wherever.

One minute you could be walking on hard packed sand, to the very next step walking through a mine field of rocks ranging in sizes from golf balls to Volkswagens, but within another 50 meters they would be walking through what feels like 10 feet deep sand traps enveloping the student’s feet. If that was not bad enough, right when you thought things could not get any worse, you are negotiating a 30 degree slope up or down.

During this final movement, Wentzel found himself playing a pivotal role, taking a toll on the young Marine.

“I had to provide medical aide to one of the French soldiers who went down with dehydration,” Wentzel said. “Running up and down the formation made this final night even more difficult, but I made it through. I was glad to be able to help, to provide medical care until the French medical staff could arrive on the scene.”
Three more American service members fell out as well because of dehydration.

“The training was tough, there was no doubt about it,” Davis said. “We pulled through and learned the human body can be pushed to the limits and then beyond. The lessons we learned will help us operate in the desert. It showed us we can not just survive out here, but succeed in our mission”