Fort Benning: A day at WHINSEC training (photo essay)

Backpacks at the ready for the 'Day Navigation Examination" out in the field for trainees at WHINSEC, held at Fort Benning, near Columbus, Mar. 2007. (Dave Bender)

This weekend marks 18th anniversary of the protest against a school on Fort Benning that teaches soldiers from Latin America. Protest organizers expect a smaller turnout because of the economy. But they are hopeful that the incoming Obama administration will work in their favor.

Trainees check water, and have a fast lunch of MRE field rations before setting out on the examination. (Dave Bender)


WHINSEC trainees getting final instructions from their trainer before setting out on the land navigation field examination. (Dave Bender/Mar. 2007)

Several dozen Latin American soldiers in camouflage, and holding maps and compasses are tearing through the brush and piney woods of the sprawling army post.

Two trainees check compass readings against a map of the area, during a land navigation portion of a medical field training course held at Fort Benning in March, 2007. (Dave Bender)

Instructors are putting them through the final exam of a land navigation course.

The soldier's are taking the class at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. It's housed at Fort Benning.

Two trainees make one last check of a map of the area, during a land navigation portion of a medical field training course held at Fort Benning in March, 2007. (Dave Bender)

Just outside the post demonstrators are gearing up for an annual protest marking the killing of six Jesuit priests, and others in El Salvador in 1989.


WHINSEC trainees during a classroom lecture on administration, held at Fort Benning in Mar. 2007. (Dave Bender)

Some of those responsible for the killings had attended the school – then known as the U.S. Army School of the Americas.

Lee Rials is WHINSEC's Public Affairs Officer. He says there's no direct correlation between their training and the graduate's deeds:

"There is not a single example of anyone who has taken a course at the School of the Americas or at WHINSEC, who has used that information to commit a crime. Not a single example has ever been shown. This whole movement is based on the false premise that mere attendance at a U.S. course has a cause-effect relationship on later behavior. And that's not been indicated; no evidence of that anywhere."

For the U.S. the school is an important foreign policy tool. But opponents are adamant about closing it down. They say WHINSEC's mandatory human rights courses are only cosmetic.
Their protest has been growing from year to year – organizers say 20,000 took part last year.

But a deepening recession may rein in those numbers.

Father Roy Bourgeois is a Maryknoll priest and founder of School of the Americas Watch. He's worried about the turnout this year:

"I have a little concern with the economy, as we all do. I was in Austin recently giving a talk. For eight years they've brought a chartered bus here filled with people from Texas. Well, the cost has doubled. Some, simply, out of Des Moines, Iowa, cannot get on that chartered bus, so they're bringing a couple of vans. I mean people are struggling."

On top of that, Bourgeois is in the midst of a wrenching personal struggle. He's facing excommunication for publically supporting women joining the Catholic priesthood.

But despite the clouds hanging over the event, supporters are still preparing workshops, giant puppets and posters, crosses and caskets for a symbolic funeral procession commemorating the deaths.

SOA Watch organizer instructs marchers in mock funeral procession outside the gates of Fort Benning during 2007 protest. (Dave Bender)

While fewer protesters may be lining the streets for that solemn event, Bourgeois feels that President-Elect Barack Obama's inauguration on January 20 will bring his goal a little closer:

"One thing I admire about President-Elect Obama is his openness to other leaders. I think he's got much more respect for other countries coming from his own background and experiences. I think he's much more sensitive to other cultures, their leaders, their people, their histories, and less aggressive as a leader."

Fr. Roy Bourgeois, at his office-apartment located in a small complex several hundred feet from one of Fort Benning's entrance gates, and the site of the annual protest. (Dave Bender/file)

SOA Watch hopes an online petition calling on Obama to issue an executive order closing WHINSEC will gain steam.

But school officials say WHINSEC is established by law and it would take a lot more than an online petition to change that fact.

Lee Rials during a tour of the former WHINSEC headquarters at Fort Benning. (Dave Bender)

Spokesman Rials is also doubtful that Obama will have any time or interest, in the face of a morass of problems awaiting him in the Oval Office on January 21st:

"I would think a national petition would require millions of signatures to get any serious thought, and I just don't believe this organization - because it seems to be getting smaller in the last year or so - will have the ability to draw those kinds of numbers."

There's been talk by organizers of moving the annual rally from Columbus to Washington, D.C., where they might have a better chance of reaching those numbers.

But Bourgeois believes that the soul of the protest should remain where it began in 1990 - at ground zero: outside his tiny apartment at the gates of Fort Benning.

The protest concludes this afternoon.

Click here for more GPB News coverage about SOA Watch and Fort Benning.

(All trainees shown in this photo essay are intended as an illustration of WHINSEC operations, and are unconnected to the events described in the article)

Ft. Benning soldier discharged in trainee beating

The Army has kicked out a soldier for beating a Jewish trainee who complained about religious harassment in their basic training unit, a Fort Benning spokesman said Monday.

Citing federal privacy laws, the Army had previously refused to discuss how it punished the attacker of Pvt. Michael Handman, 20, of Atlanta, other than to say the case had been handled as an administrative matter rather than as a crime.

That changed after the southeast director of the Anti-Defamation League met Fort Benning officials Friday. Col. Charles Durr, chief of staff at Fort Benning, told the ADL's Bill Nigut the assailant had been discharged.

"The soldier that was punished for the assault on Pvt. Handman has been processed for discharge from the Army," Fort Benning spokesman Bob Purtiman confirmed Monday.

The Army says Handman was beaten Sept. 24 by a fellow trainee in a laundry room near his barracks. Handman was treated at an Army hospital for a concussion and bruising to his face. He has since been transferred to another basic training unit at Fort Benning in Columbus.

Four days before the attack, Handman was interviewed by commanders of his basic training unit about complaints he'd made in letters to his parents that he had been harassed by two drill sergeants because he's Jewish.

The Army later acknowledged one drill sergeant had ordered Handman to remove his yarmulke, which he wore with his uniform, as he ate in a dining hall. Another drill sergeant had called him "Juden" - the German word for Jews.

Officials said last month that Handman's attacker had been punished administratively but refused to release further details, citing federal privacy laws.

Click here for previous GPB News coverage of this story.

(AP)

74-Year-Old Ga. Army Combat Doc On 3rd Combat Tour

Dr. John Burson speaks during an interview at Fort Benning in Columbus, Ga., Wednesday, Feb 11, 2009. Burson, 74, a retired ear nose and throat specialist from Carrolton, Ga., was at Fort Benning finishing a week-long training course before being deployed for a 90-day rotation with the 101st Airborne Division. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Dr. John Burson balked when a skeptical Army staffer asked him to undergo a three-day physical exam to make sure he was fit to deploy as a field surgeon to Afghanistan.

"Look, I'm training to run a half-marathon," replied Burson, 74, a retired lieutenant colonel. "You come down and check to see if I can make it."

Burson won the debate and was declared fit for duty. The ear, nose and throat specialist from Carrolton wrapped up a weeklong training course this week at Fort Benning before his scheduled deployment Friday for a 90-day rotation with a unit of the 101st Airborne Division.

The first of two stints in Iraq proved unforgettable back in 2005, he said. Burson was among several doctors assigned to keep watch over an imprisoned Saddam Hussein.

The fallen dictator, who was three years younger than Burson, told him: "I'm glad they sent me one with gray hair this time."

"He likes to say, 'Where else can a 74-year-old go and have fun?'" said Barbara Burson, his wife of 53 years. "I don't know if I see it as fun, but he enjoys doing it. And anyone would feel good about being able to contribute."

In Afghanistan, Burson will oversee a medical staff treating about 1,000 soldiers. He'll likely spend much of his time working in a base clinic, but could be called to treat soldiers wounded during combat patrols. When he served in Iraq, it wasn't unusual for him to work through mortar rounds being fired at his base camp.

"There's an element of risk," Burson said. "But statistically it's probably not any more hazardous than driving to work."

Lt. Col. Twanda Young said about 400 soldiers, reservists and civilian contractors go through the Fort Benning training center she commands each week, preparing to join units already overseas. Burson isn't the only gray-haired volunteer she's seen — but she said his abilities make his age irrelevant.

Click here for more GPB News coverage about Fort Benning and military affairs.

Ft. Benning: Corps okays $64M BRAC project

Entrance gate to Fort Benning. (Dave Bender/file)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently awarded two California and Virginia Beach, Va.-based consulting firms a $64 million to design and build several public structures on Fort Benning, near Columbus.

Tetra Tech-Tesoro says they will build a library and instruction facility, a maintenance facility, and storage buildings in the joint project.

The project is part of the Army's planned relocation of the Armor Center at Fort Knox to Fort Benning over the next several years, as part of the Base Realignment and Closure program (BRAC).

Maneuver Center of Excellence

Tetra Tech-Tesoro says they expect the construction to be completed in 2010, according to a Market Watch report.

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Fort Benning remembers its fallen

The stars and stripes, and a bouquet of tulips in a vase alongside gravestones at Fort Benning's military cemetery, on Memorial Day, May 26, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Memorial services for soldiers died in war were held at Fort Benning near Columbus today.

Over two hundred family members of fallen soldiers; along with veterans, officers and local officials took part in the ceremony, held at the post cemetery.

Benning commander Major-General Walter Wojdakowski says the fallen did not die in vain:

“In our hearts we know that we can't fully discharge our solemn obligation to these men and women, with mere words and gestures. for they did not die for words or wreaths alone; they died to preserve the freedoms that we so much enjoy.”

A color guard fired off three rounds saluting the fallen, a lone bugler played taps and the visitors walked among the thousands of gravestones, in remembrance.

The Army says over 80 soldiers have died in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

Ray, Wendy, John and David Shisler of Columbus look out over the rows of gravestones during the Memorial Day ceremony, held at Fort Benning, May 26, 2008. (Dave Bender)

GPB Radio will air a special Memorial Day edition of Georgia Gazette this evening 6 pm, 7 pm in Athens. This evening at 8 pm, join GPB Radio for a specially produced program recapping the state Memorial Day commemoration of last Thursday.

Ft. Benning hospital b'day present: $350 M

Martin Army Community Hospital, Fort Benning. (Courtesy) President George Bush on Monday granted $350 million dollars for a new army hospital in southwest Georgia, as the facility it will replace commemorates its 50th anniversary. The funds for Martin Army Hospital at Fort Benning are part of an emergency Iraq War funding bill. Hospital Director Colonel Harry Warren says the center plans to open a traumatic brain injury clinic for wounded soldiers:

"In fact, we already have funding before the new hospital for an outpatient clinic along these lines, actually, next month."

Army officials say repairs are being made to the present facility, which is beset with rusty plumbing, an underpowered electrical system and a leaky roof. The hospital serves the region, and will continue functioning until the new, 500,000 million dollar facility is built over the next four-to-five years.

Rep. Sanford Bishop, 2nd Cong. Dist. (in suit), Maj. Gen. Walter Wojdakowski, and Martin Army Community Hospital officials wield ceremonial swords to cut a 50th birthday cake. (Dave Bender)

An influx of some 30,000 troops, families and dependents is expected when the Army's Armor School at Fort Knox moves down to Fort Benning as a part of the Base Realignment and Closure program (BRAC).

Click here for more GPB News coverage of events at Fort Benning, and here for more on the BRAC plan.

Ft. Benning going whole hog over feral pigs

Maj. Bobby Toon posing in October 2007 with a feral pig he killed at Fort Benning. (AP Photo/Fort Benning)

Maj. Bobby Toon is known as the Pig Czar at the huge army post on Georgia's western edge.

He has been assigned to help rid Fort Benning of its unwanted guests: an estimated 6,000 feral pigs that roam the 184,000-acre installation.

The animals, common throughout Georgia, are known for tearing up woodlands and farms. They are aggressive foragers, gobbling up native vegetation and endangered species.

"These pigs feed and breed," Toon said. "That's all they care about. I've been here off and on for 17 years, and I can never remember a pig population as big as it is now."

Since July, more than 900 pigs have been killed.

"These animals can smell a turkey egg three miles away," Toon said. "They're also a danger to tortoises and woodpeckers."

The former 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment company commander, who now instructs a course at the Maneuver Captains Career Course, has personally brought down 68 pigs in the past year.

He's not the only pig hunter at work.

About 2,000 people who are authorized to hunt on the post have been encouraged to go after the feral pigs. They must be active-duty, retired military or civilian workers at Benning and must have a license from the base.

The post is offering a $40 bounty for every pig tail that's brought in.

"We did a cost estimate with civilian contractors, but they wanted way too much money for the job," Toon said.

(The Associated Press)

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Columbus: Six arrested at SOA Watch rally

The group SOA Watch says six people have been arrested so far at Fort Benning, near Columbus where thousands have gathered to protest a school there that trains Latin American soldiers, police and government officials.

Hendrik Voss is communications director for SOA Watch, which seeks to close the school. He says the six were arrested shortly after 9 a.m. Sunday for coming onto the grounds of the military base.

Police said Sunday evening that the six all made bond and have been released.

Voss says 20,000 people attended the event, but police peg that number considerably lower at about 8,500.

The Army's School of the Americas moved to Fort Benning from Panama in 1984 and was replaced in 2001 by the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.

Protesters at the 2007 SOA Watch rally outside the gates of Fort Benning holding crosses and a doll symbolizing those killed in El Salvador in 1989. (Dave Bender/file)

The protests outside the base commemorate six Jesuit priests who were killed along with their housekeeper and her daughter in El Salvador in 1989. Some of the killers had attended the School of the Americas.

Click here for more GPB News coverage about SOA WAtch and Fort Benning.

(AP)

US Army Sec'y attends Columbus event

Fort Benning Commanding General Walter Wojdakowski, Columbus Mayor Jim Wetherington, and US Army Secretary Peter Geren at the "Army Community Covenant" signing ceremony in Columbus, April 17, 2008. (Dave Bender)

US Army Secretary, Peter Geren, and officials from Fort Benning, Columbus and Phenix City, Ala., took part in a dedication on Thursday supporting the bond between soldiers' families and the surrounding civilian communities.

An infantry soldier and family members of service personnel took part in the signing the "Army Community Covenant" document.

Some 200 soldiers, families, local and state officials attended the ceremony, which was held at the Columbus RiverCenter complex.

Fort Benning and the surrounding community are the first in a series of such signings at bases and surrounding areas across the country.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of events at Fort Benning, and other military affairs in Georgia.

Army reprimands DI's over harassing Jewish soldier

Jewish soldiers carefully roll up a Torah scroll after religious services in the multi-denominational chapel at Fort Benning. (file/Dave Bender)

Officials at Fort Benning in western Georgia say they're taking seriously a reported beating and charges of religious harassment against a Jewish soldier.

Private Michael Handman of Atlanta, was severely beaten days after two drill sergeants forced him to remove a cap worn by observant Jews, in a mess hall. The two are also accused of anti-Semitic slurs against the soldier for reportedly praying during guard duty, and for asking about religious services.

Handman's parents, fearing for their son's safety, contacted Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss, who asked the army to investigate the incidents, which took place in September.

Neil Block, president of Temple Israel in Columbus, and (former) post chaplain, Maj. Rabbi Avrohom Horovitz leading services at a multi-deminational chapel at Fort Benning. (file/Dave Bender)

Neil Block is a Jewish lay leader in nearby Columbus, and conducts religious services for the trainees:

“The Army is not taking this lightly, the army is not attempting to sweep this under the rug, the Army is addressing this absolutely straight up and forward – and the chips will fall where they have to.”

Block is working with Handman and the Army to resolve the incident.

Handman has been reassigned to a medical rehab unit, to recover from the attack, and for unrelated medical issues.

Army officials say the drill sergeants will be reprimanded, and that they and battalion officials will be trained in accommodating religious troops.

Click here for more GPB News coverage about Fort Benning.

Woman Accused in Fort Benning Fire Denied Bond

Firefighter walking in front of the inferno, which had been JAG headquarters at Fort Benning. (Photo: The Bayonet)

A woman accused of setting a fire that burned down the Judge Advocate General's office at Fort Benning has been denied bond.

U.S. Magistrate G. Mallon Faircloth issued the ruling on Friday against Shawana Topekia Pierce, a Fort Benning employee.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan Flanagan said Pierce knew she was a suspect in a theft of government property case and that files about her were in the office at the time of the Feb. 6 fire.

The structure was totally destroyed in the blaze.

Defense attorney Mike Reynolds argued that while the accusations against Pierce are serious, they don't make her a flight risk.

Faircloth said he's concerned that Pierce had packed her car before she was arrested, making it appear she was ready to flee. He ordered her held until her next court appearance on Thursday.

Information from: Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.

(AP)

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Traffic-fighting Group Focusing on Military Drivers

Georgia's Clean Air Campaign, which has been setting up car pools for Atlanta commuters for over a decade is setting their sites on another target: The soldiers and civilians packing state military bases.

Military officials at Warner Robins Air Force Base near Macon, and at Fort Benning near Columbus say the response to the new RideShare program has been strong.

Polly Gustafson of Fort Benning’s Public Directorate, which administers the program says they are looking ahead to the over 30,000 personnel due as a part of a nationwide base relocation program:

"Fort Benning, of course, is going to grow because of BRAC and the coming of the armor school, and so we need to work on our transportation demand and get some of these cars off the road which will, in turn benefit our air quality here by reducing our air emissions."

Gustafson says 115 of Fort Benning’s civilian commuters signed up with the program this month, and that they intend to expand the program to military personnel in January. Over 1,500 soldiers and employees at Robins signed on during a weeklong event in October.

Clean Air Campaign spokesman Candace Mccaffery says the RideShare program pays carpoolers three dollars a day, up to $180 over three months.

(With The Associated Press)

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Army Mom Reports For Duty With Kids in Tow

Lisa Pagan (Photo: WBTV)

A North Carolina mother who reported for Army duty at Fort Benning, Ga., with her two young children because she said she has no one to care for them was scheduled to meet Monday with her commanders.

"Right now, we're just in a holding pattern," Lisa Pagan's attorney, Mark Waple said, adding that Pagan took her children with her to the meeting.

Pagan was recalled to the Army four years after being honorably discharged, which is allowed under the military's "individual ready reserve" program.

Soldiers can appeal, and some have won permission to remain in civilian life. Pagan filed several appeals, arguing that because her husband travels for business, no one else can take care of her kids. Her appeals were rejected.

Waple said he didn't know if Pagan's case would be resolved Monday, but said the meeting "will be the next step toward some kind of resolution."

Fort Benning spokesman Bob Purtiman said Pagan reported to the Army post's mobilization center that prepares individual soldiers to plug into Army units already overseas or those training to deploy. He did not know how long she was scheduled to stay at Fort Benning.

"She's just passing through on her way to be deployed," Purtiman said. "She's here and she's going to process in. The command's looking at a range of options available to have resolution of her situation."

Purtiman said he didn't yet know what range of options commanders were considering. He said Fort Benning has day care services available for Pagan's children while she's there.

"There will be some resolution over the next couple of days about some temporary arrangements to help care for the kids while this affair is ironed out," Waple said.

Pagan is among thousands of former service members recalled after leaving duty since the Sept. 11 attacks because they're on "individual ready reserve" status, meaning they have time left on their original enlistment contracts and can be recalled at any time.

Master Sgt. Keith O'Donnell, an Army spokesman in St. Louis, has said that of the 25,000 individual ready reserve troops recalled since September 2001, more than 7,500 have been granted deferments or exemptions.

About 1,000 have failed to report, and most of those cases are still under investigation, he said. Another 360 soldiers have been separated from the Army either through "other than honorable" discharges or general discharges.

O'Donnell said Pagan isn't likely to face charges, since none of the individual ready reserve soldiers who have failed to report faced a court-martial.

(AP)

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Ga. priest facing excommunication will appeal

School of the Americans Watch founder Fr. Roy Bourgeois holding what he says is an Army-censored list of students attending WHISC. (Dave Bender/file)

Georgia priest facing excommunication for supporting the ordination of women said Friday he plans to visit the Vatican with a contingent of fellow priests and a bishop to appeal the decision.

Roy Bourgeois, 69, a Maryknoll priest and nationally known peace activist, ran afoul of Vatican doctrine by participating in an Aug. 9 ceremony in Lexington, Ky., to ordain Janice Sevre-Duszynska, a member of a group called Roman Catholic Womenpriests. Recent popes have said the Roman Catholic Church cannot ordain women because Christ chose only males as apostles.

"Who are we as men to say to women that our call to the priesthood is valid, but yours is not?" Bourgeois said in a telephone interview.

"As Catholics we profess that the invitation to priesthood comes from God, and I believe that we are hampering with the sacred when we say that women must be excluded from being priests. That invitation is from God."

Bourgeois said the toughest part of the ordeal was informing his 95-year-old father, a devout Roman Catholic. He said he drove to his family's home in Lutcher, La., near New Orleans, to tell him, and that his father shed tears and then told his family that God had protected Bourgeois before, and would continue to today.

"When he said God will take care of him, I wept," said Bourgeois.

Bourgeois' excommunication likely would be automatic, requiring no further action from the Holy See, said the chief Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi. Excommunication is the most severe penalty under church law, cutting off a Catholic from receiving or administering sacraments. The ordained woman, Sevre-Duszynska, also faces excommunication.

Bourgeois said that he recently received a letter from the Vatican's doctrinal watchdog, the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, offering him a chance to recant within 30 days to avoid excommunication. But Lombardi said he did not know of such a letter, and Bourgeois said he has informed the Vatican he will not repent.

Bourgeois, a Vietnam veteran, served as a missionary in Bolivia and El Salvador. Concerned by what he had witnessed, he returned to the United States and formed School of Americas Watch, a group that holds annual demonstrations against a Fort Benning school that is now known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. He lives in an apartment outside Fort Benning's main gate.


Bourgeois (blue shirt), and Ohio Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich comfort a Guatemalan mother and daughter sobbing against a entrance fence at Fort Benning during annual SOA Watch protest in 2007. The two women, who now live in Chicago said they were grieving over the loss of seven members of their family to military forces in their country in 1981. (Dave Bender/file)

The deadline for his excommunication is Nov. 21, Bourgeois said - just one day before the start of the 19th annual protest at the school by the group. Even if he is excommunicated, Bourgeois said he will remain active in SOA Watch and the church.

"I won't be able to say Mass in Catholic churches, but my ministry in SOA Watch and speaking at colleges and churches will continue," he said.

Bourgeois unpacking fliers and other protest paraphernalia at his apartment and office alongside the gates of Fort Benning, before the 2007 SOA Watch rally. (Dave Bender)

Click here for more GPB News coverage about Fr. Bourgeois and SOA Watch.

(AP)

Troops due back from Iraq

Fort Benning entrance gate. (Dave Bender)

About 80 Fort Benning soldiers are due back in the US Wednesday evening, after a 15-month deployment in Iraq.

The troops are from the 13th Combat Support Sustainment Battalion, a a maintenance and transport unit.

The troops are one of two groups returning: another 150 of the unit's soldiers are due back in about a week.

There were no losses to the unit during their tour of duty, according to the Fort Benning Public Affairs Office.

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Fort Benning units deploying

Entrance gate to Fort Benning. (Dave Bender/file)

In news about Georgia military affairs, some 270 soldiers from Fort Benning in southwest Georgia are set to deploy to Iraq.

The troops are part of a military police, and a transportation company.

They will leave on Tuesday for a twelve month tour-of-duty, according to an Army statement.

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Bradleys and Baghdad on the 'Hootch'

Maj. Shane Sims goes through a final checklist with the driver of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle on the testing pad at Fort Benning, a day before trucking the 25-ton tracked vehicles into Columbus on Thursday, June 5, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Two Bradley Fighting Vehicles – tank-like personnel carriers – clanked along in downtown Columbus traffic on Thursday, in order to test out hi-tech camera gear.

A Bradley Fighting Vehicle pulls into traffic in downtown Columbus for a test run. The tank is sandwiched between two of the test team's pickup trucks to minimize the chance of hitting a civilian vehicle , June 5, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Cpl. Jason Wade of Columbus State University police watched as the vehicles rolled by his post near a parking garage on Front Street:

“That's something downtown's never seen before. It's pretty neat! Couldn't imagine being stopped at a red light and seeing this big 50-caliber gun stuck in my rear view mirror (laughs).

He's watching an army test to better protect soldiers out on patrol from bombs, bullets and the mayhem on Iraqi streets.

They want to keep soldiers safely buttoned up in an armor plated, 25-ton Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The steel and aluminum-hulled heavyweight runs on treads, carries a three-man crew and up to seven infantrymen.

Fort Benning officials are here to acid test a new camera vision system that's supposed to transmit a 360-degree color and infrared view of what's going on outside to the crew's tv-screens inside.

But the system's camera and infrared scanners – which translate degrees of heat and cold into a black and white image – are blinded by southwest Georgia's scorching 100-degree heat reflecting off walls, cars and people.

Spc. Kyle Jolley and another crew member take a break on the Bradley Fighting Vehicle's ramp, between sorties through downtown Columbus to test camera systems, June 5, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Specialist Kyle Jolley, who monitors the cameras is having a tough time interpreting what's on his screen:

“It's kind of overwhelming at this point, because there's so many noncombatants that are there, and a lot of them have cameras, so it's hard to distinguish an actual video camera or something like that. Also, you're trying to pick people apart in groups, and by the time you do, you're already passed them and moved on to the next group.”

Interviewer:
What about the infrared signatures?

Jolley:
“Infrared's difficult during the day, because the sun heats up the surrounding areas so much, that people don't stand off against the background as well as they do during the nighttime.”

Jolley has to pick out eight soldiers who are wearing street clothes, and posing as insurgents. They're brandishing long black tubes as make-believe weapons, and hiding in the deep shadows of windows and doorways, and behind bushes and foliage.



Second Lieutenant Alfred Spiteri, posing as an insurgent, points a mock anti-tank rocket at the Bradley Fighting Vehicle as it drives by a parking garage, June 5, 2008. The maneuver is meant to test the vehicle's on-board camera system in real life situations, similar to those encountered in Iraq. (Dave Bender)

Infantry Second Lieutenant Alfred Spiteri quickly points his mock anti-tank rocket out the window of a parking garage, and then pulls back:

“Our job here is to work as an enemy for this exercise, so that they can see if the new camera systems they're trying to incorporate into the Bradleys' are effective. Other people out here have mock rifles, so that the Bradley crews can differentiate between what weapons we're using.”

But despite the snafus the army says it wants all the feedback – positive and especially negative - from the camo-clad troops, so they can fix the bugs before the system is deployed in Baghdad's back alleys.

I ask Major Shane Sims, who's in charge of the field testing, about other possible battle scenarios:

Interviewer:
“You're running through downtown Baghdad; a kid runs up with spray paint, gets two cameras out; someone throws a grenade on it – you can blow out a camera...”

Sims:
“You're very attuned into what some of the issues are. those are very good questions, and those are issues we're all addressing in this experiment.”

After the Bradleys are trucked back to Fort Benning, and the field reports are filed, Sims says additional system testing and adding improvements will take place at the Army's armor center at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

Crewmember undergoes an inspection before deploying his vehicle on a test sortie in downtown Columbus, June 5, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Click here for more GPB News coverage of events at Fort Benning and the post's effect on Columbus and the surrounding area .

GAO Report: Sharp Spike in Army Move Costs

Maneuver Center of Excellence. (Fort Benning)

A new report says the massive military relocation project for Fort Benning will have a much larger price tag than previous estimates.

The Base Realignment and Closure Program – BRAC, for short – was projected to cost taxpayers 21-billion dollars. Now, the figure is nearly 700 million dollars higher.

The Army says the added costs are for roads, sewers and infrastructure for the BRAC project which includes opening some bases, closing others, and moving 123,000 service personnel nationwide.

Georgia is the focus of a major BRAC initiative — moving the Army's Armor school from Ft. Knox, Kentucky to Fort Benning, near Columbus. It involves bringing some 30,000 troops and their families to the Columbus area.

The GAO says it may be the most expensive move in US military history. A Pentagon official says nationwide BRAC will, in his words, “enhance defense capabilities."

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Returning troops expected to boost economy

Sign of the times in Columbus: a dry cleaning service near Fort Benning welcomes the 3rd ID home. (Dave Bender)

The return of several thousand troops from Iraq in coming weeks, is expected to give a boost to businesses around Columbus in western Georgia. The hoped-for economic shot-in-the-arm will come from some 3,800 combat soldiers of the US Army's Third Brigade, who served in the Baghdad area.

Several units recently redeployed to nearby Fort Benning, in order to prepare families and the post for the main force. But the brigade's year-long absence was felt far beyond the gates of the base.

Mike Gaymon of the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce:

“When the Third Brigade left, the growth of Chattahoochee County became the worst in the 159 counties in Georgia, and then when the third comes back, they will lead the state in growth.”

Gaymon says apartments complexes, car dealerships, and furniture and appliance stores are among those eagerly awaiting the “boots on the ground.”

Billboard near Ft. Benning pitches studies at Columbus State University for returning troops. (Dave Bender)

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House ok's Fort Benning hospital funding bill

Martin Army Community Hospital (Courtesy)

Fort Benning's aging Martin Army Community Hospital will be rebuilt to the tune of $350 million, if a vote approved by the House last week passes a Senate vote and is signed into law by President George Bush.

Army officials say the facility suffers from significant infrastructure problems, among them a corroded plumbing system, an overtaxed electrical system and a decaying roof.

A hospital spokesperson says they want to build a traumatic brain injury clinic, for troops wounded in battle.

Officials say a new facility would serve some 100,000 soldiers and dependents in coming years, as part of the national Base Realignment and Closure program.

The bill also includes funding for medical facilities at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and Fort Riley, Kansas.

The bill now faces a Senate vote.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of events at Fort Benning, and here for more on the BRAC plan.