Mini-Afghanistan Village In Louisiana Could Save Soldiers Lives

Fork Polk, Louisiana might be in the United States but that hasn’t stopped a mini-Afghanistan village from popping up in the area. While that news might appear alarming to hear at first, this village was created by the United States military as a means to train soldiers in as close to a realistic setting as possible.

The mock village is complete with brick buildings, domed mosques and other life-like structures that Army soldiers will be greeted with once they are placed inside the war-torn country.

During exercises soldiers engage in role-playing scenarios meant to train them for helping Afghan troops resume control of the country as U.S. troops pull out of the area.

During mock villege meetings (shuras) soldiers learn to step back and allow local leaders to take first command, something US troops had a hard time applying in real life. While soldiers chime in they usually do so only to offer advice as needed or requested.

According to one instructor in a discussion with NPR:

“It’s actually been very hard for us to get to that point. The first couple of shuras, the Americans seemed like they ran it, and now they’re getting it, where they understand that the Afghans have to be in that leadership role.”

Just like in real-life soldiers are met in some cases with unforeseen scenarios such as suicide bombers and protests from locals.

War will always come with uncertainty but for now a little mini-Afghanistan village locaed in Fork, Polk Louisiana is at least attempting to help our men and women in uniform gain the upper hand.

Do you think this type of training can yield positive results for the US Military by creating a new level of preparedness?