SETX citizen soldiers ready to deploy to Iraq

     About 20 Southeast Texas employers are seeing another side of their employees--The National Guard side. The National Guard invited the employers to Fort Bliss in El Paso as part of a program called "Boss Lift." 

     When a soldier is called for duty he must leave his civilian job back home and deploy overseas for a year. The guard invited employers to fly on a military aircraft to see first hand what their citizen soldier employees are doing. The purpose is to gain continued support from texas employers who hold jobs open until a soldier returns home.

    The call to prayer plays seven times a day over camp McGregor. it's part of what's called immersion theater immersion a way to prepare soldiers for service in Iraq.

     A Southeast Texas soldier captured this video of his unit the, 1-133rd Field Artillery, The National Guard Unit out of Port Arthur

      The soldiers are being sprayed in the face with pepper spray, twice as strong as the spray police use. Sergeant Derrick Cooper says it hurts bad but it's part the new training to prepare his unit to oversee detainees 7,000 miles away. This will be his third tour.

     "Things change as far as policies in the military they way we operate but each time it's easier to mentally prepare for the next deployment," said Sgt. Derrick Cooper.

     That's just one of several areas of training. In a portable double wide trailer soldiers practice medical response. They're taking part in a simulation of a night attack. Several soldiers are wounded, dying and need help.

     "The majority of our soldiers are combat lifesavers. They have critical life-saving capability," said Col. Mark Campsey of the 72nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team.

     Members of the 133rd say they don't mind if their families see this but it's not really what they want them to think about.

     "30% I'd say. It's hard to explain what's going on. We don't want them to worry. We kind of hide what's going on," said Staff Sgt. Luke Summerlin. 

     They're learning to spot and identify improvised explosive devices or IED's. Things like cell phone bombs on the side of the road.

     The guardsmen are training in Fort Bliss for two months then they'll fly to Kuait for two weeks and the rest of time is spent in Iraq.

     "Camp McGregor and the first army have done a great job creating a realistic environment. Not only a physical environment but a foreign language session. This is a tremendous training opportunity," said Campsey.

      They're learning hand to hand combat, riot control and how to ward off an attacker. Much of these training is design to create real life situations and to force the guardsmen to think on their feet. After the soldiers are sprayed they have to keep going all with a burning sensation in the mouth, eyes and nose.

     Tuesday we'll show you how the guardsmen are training to improve work in Iraqi prisons and accountability. Also, we'll explain why Fort Bliss has become the premiere training site in the U.S.