FORT IRWIN, Calif. — About 2,000 Idaho National Guard soldiers will soon head home after a month of training in the California desert.
Members of the 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team were deployed to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin late last month for a large-scale exercise.
Soldiers with Montana, Nevada and Oregon National Guard units also deployed with the 116th.
The training center, which is roughly the size of Rhode Island, has terrain that tested the troops' ability to sustain themselves in a large, unforgiving environment.
"They're thrust right into the middle of a training environment that is very hostile with the weather, reaching up anywhere from 70 degrees to 105 degrees," Col. Scott Sheridan with Idaho National Guard said.
The 116th Cavalry Brigade has been battling with the so-called, home town team from California, the US Army's 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. Col. Sheridan says that team has been a tough challenge.
"Opposing forces have you under contact 22 out of the 24 hours a day," explains Col. Sheridan.
Through extended real-world simulations, the forces are now in the final phase of being ready for real-world deployment.
"The soldiers responded exemplary, the training is very difficult, there is very little sleep, it's hot, you are uncomfortable and you are always under contract, some form of contact," Col. Sheridan said.
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Other soldiers like Holly Coriell of Nampa says the experience at the National Training Center is one of the best preparations for soldiers that are getting ready for a possible deployment.
"I think it is a great learning opportunity, honestly, it gives us a chance to get out of our comfort zone," Coriell said.
During the exercise, Idaho Air National Guard members provided close air support using their A-10 "Warthog" jets.
"It was a unique opportunity for our guardsmen - our army guardsmen - to work with the air guardsmen in a coordinated effort that incorporated both air power and ground forces, combining joint fires," Col. Scott Sheridan said.
Idaho National Guard soldiers training in California
Soldiers who took part in the training said the change of scenery was helpful.
"It gives us a chance to get out of our comfort zone, putting us in a place where they're pushing us and pressuring us to do things that we do all the time, but not on our home turf," Coriell said.
The training exercise is scheduled to end on Friday.
The 116th Cavalry Brigade recently just got word that they will be deployed next spring to Germany for the Defender 2020 military exercise.
Alongside troops from several other nations, they will spend about a month demonstrating U.S. Forces' ability to quickly mobilize and fight in a European conflict.