After pitching an article about National Guard training to Military Officer magazine, I was sent to Camp Shelby, Mississippi to see how it was done. I was unfortunate enough to arrive in summer, when the heat and humidity are nearly overwhelming. But it’s much worse for the recruits, who wear Kevlar body armor while carrying heavy packs and weapons. The public affairs officer was somehow able to get me into a Humvee convoy training mission – the first time a journalist had been invited to ride along.

The Humvee looks sturdy, but in fact has very little armor, as soldiers learned during the early days of the Iraq insurgency. Recruitsare required to keep the windows up until engagement, so the only air entering the vehicle was from the roof-mounted turret. The temperature outside was near a hundred; inside, I didn’t even want to speculate.

On the training lane, targets representing snipers suddenly popped up, followed by the chatter of machine guns and rifles. The bullets were blanks, but the noise was still deafening. Simulated IEDs exploded as the crew exchanged frantic radio transmissions with base commanders and other Humvees. It was a confusing, chaotic scene – exactly the kind of situation the trainees might encounter once deployed overseas.

Camp Shelby also has a simulated village, where Iraqi-born actors dressed as townspeople interact with soldiers in what is hoped are realistic ways. I was stationed in the town as National Guard troops staged a cordon-and-search operation designed to root out insurgents, and the reality level was unsettling. As the operation began, Humvees roared through town, setting up checkpoints at all exits while troop carriers disgorged a horde of soldiers.