How is Fort Polk, Louisiana?

Answer 1

Fort Polk is a United States Army base located in Leesville, Louisiana. Its primary ZIP code is 71459.
History

The base was established in 1941 and is named in honor of the first Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Louisiana, the Right Reverend Leonidas Polk, who was also a Confederate general. The post was used as an Army training base during World War II and was also used during the Korean War. The Berlin Crisis of 1961 prompted the army to make the base a permanent Infantry training center.

During the Vietnam conflict, Fort Polk was the principal infantry training for the conflict. It was famous for Tigerland, part of its Advanced Infantry Training Center. It was also the site where potential helicopter pilots were sent for their basic training prior to taking primary flight training at Fort Wolters.

The Joint Readiness Training Center, or JRTC, has called the base home since 1993 and it is the home of the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion (Geronimos), as well as the 4th Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, which was activated at Fort Polk in January of 2005.

JRTC combines realistic tactical training lanes and a week-long "free-play" exercise -- all designed to simulate operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Paratroopers from the 509th stand in for insurgents, actors portray Iraqi or Afghani civilians and pyrotechnics experts add battlefield effects such as smoke and explosions. The training is dynamic: every day the enemy's actions change depending on trainees' decisions.

If a unit accidentally hits civilians during a firefight with insurgents, local leaders will demand compensation for damages and will withhold vital information on local insurgents. At JRTC's Engagement University, officers meet with Iraqi expatriates playing the roles of tribal leaders.

The Engagement University staff comprises the Iraqi expatriates, private contractors who maintain the gear and cultural experts and one Jordanian military exchange officer who keep the exercises grounded in reality. The staff runs a facility including several dimly-lit rooms dressed to look like Iraqi or Afghani homes. Meetings are recorded by hidden cameras monitored by JRTC observer-controllers. After their meetings, officers debrief with staff.

Before meeting with the local tribal leader, officers take classes in Iraqi or Afghani culture. They learn a few Arabic or Pushtan phrases and how to carry themselves around Arab Muslims or, alternately, Afghanis. They are taught to offer and accept gifts, to acknowledge the leader’s authority and to never show the soles of their feet -- a serious faux pas in Arab culture.

Engagement University is meant to reduce the time it takes for units to orient to Iraqi or Afghani culture and help them avoid costly mistakes.

To keep Engagement University current, the staff regularly updates the actors’ scripts based on lessons learned in Iraq or Afghanistan and on feedback from the cultural experts who observe every meeting.

Answer 2

Terrible, unless you are a mosquito enthusiast.