VOA常速英语2008年-Afghan Soldiers Train at US Army Base

By Greg Flakus
Fort Riley
25 March 2008

US troops at Fort Riley, in the Midwestern state of Kansas, are training for deployment² in Afghanistan along with 31 soldiers from Afghanistan's National Army. Some 300 US soldiers are in the current exercise and, as VOA's Greg Flakus reports from Fort Riley, they are getting a good preview of the kind of conditions and problems they will face after they deploy¹ to Afghanistan.

In this exercise, the soldiers are raiding the suspected base of an insurgent³ group in order to apprehend⁴ what they call "a bad guy." The training takes place in a mock Afghan village complete with so-called enactors, usually Afghan Americans, who play the role of villagers and combatants. Soldiers must safely enter the village, locate the house of the insurgents⁵ and enter without harming any of the civilians⁶ who wander the streets nearby.

Carrying out such an operation requires cultural sensitivity and knowledge of local traditions. US soldiers are taught to respect local village leaders and to work closely with Afghan security forces and that is one reason the Afghan soldiers are here taking part in these exercises.  US Army advisors⁷ do most training of Afghan soldiers in Afghanistan, but these 31 men are here so that they can help US soldiers learn how to work with Afghan counterparts before they leave Fort Riley.

Lieutenant⁸ Colonel John Nagl , one of the authors of the US military handbook on counterinsurgency, says gaining a better understanding of the Afghan people is a key factor in defeating al-Qaida and the Taliban.

"It is extraordinarily⁹ important to understand the culture and not just have cultural awareness¹⁰, but actually have cultural competence¹¹: to be able to work inside the culture, to understand how different people think and what they value," he said.

The Afghans train here with the vehicles, weapons and gear they will use back home. They interact with their US counterparts through interpreters, although most of them have learned a little English and some of the US soldiers have also picked up some Pashto and Dari, the languages spoken in Afghanistan.

Afghan Army Sergeant¹² Rahmat-ullah Ahmed Zai says troops from both countries can learn something from each other.

"The American soldiers learn from us about the terrain¹³ in Afghanistan and we learn from them about advanced military technology," he noted¹⁴.  "They have more theoretical knowledge, while ours is more practical."

He says the soldiers from both armies are focused on the same mission.

"Their goal and our goal is the same: the elimination¹⁵ of the enemy, al-Qaida, the terrorists and the drug traffickers," he added.

The commander of the Afghan detachment here is Captain Najibula Askardzada. He says this training is part of an effort to strengthen his nation's security forces so that the country can recover from 30 years of war.

"In order to rebuild the foundations of the country-schools, clinics, mosques-the Afghan people need security and that can only be provided by soldiers with better training, weapons and equipment," he explained.

Major General Robert Durbin, who was in Afghanistan before assuming command of Fort Riley last year, says US troops are still needed there, but he says Afghan troops will one day be able to operate effectively alone.

"I still think we are a year or two, maybe three, from achieving that, but we already have independent operations from some of their highest quality forces, their commando forces, that have demonstrated their capabilities," he said.

In the meantime, Colonel Nagl says the training exercises with Afghan troops here contribute to making US efforts in Afghanistan much more effective.

"It is really the difference between theory and practice and every step we can take our trainers along the road to being a great adviser¹⁶ here at Fort Riley is a step they do not have to learn on the ground in Afghanistan," he noted.

Nagl and other US officers praise the Afghans for their resilience and hard work and they say friendships forged through these exercises help strengthen the bond between the two nations.

1 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

2 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

3 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

4 apprehend   

vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑

参考例句：

• I apprehend no worsening of the situation.我不担心局势会恶化。
• Police have not apprehended her killer.警察还未抓获谋杀她的凶手。

5 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

6 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

7 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

8 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

9 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

10 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

11 competence   

n.能力，胜任，称职

参考例句：

• This mess is a poor reflection on his competence.这种混乱情况说明他难当此任。
• These are matters within the competence of the court.这些是法院权限以内的事。

12 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

13 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

14 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

15 elimination   

n.排除，消除，消灭

参考例句：

• Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
• I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。

16 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。