Last modified: Thursday, November 20, 2008 10:36 AM PST Spc. Kris Audell walks in a skirmish line during a training session at Big Willow, east of Payette, Saturday. Dual-use training By Pat Caldwell Argus Observer Payette — A momentary flash of time on a high-desert landscape east of New Plymouth illustrates how a familiar piece of hometown territory has evolved into a multi-use area for the Idaho Army National Guard and the public. As a group of local Idaho Army National Guardsmen slowly walked in a long skirmish line over a brown hill, a lone teenager on a four-wheeler sped past them on a dusty trail, moving toward another long, tall line of hills in the distance. Not far away, down another dusty road pockmarked with potholes and washouts, a large group of residents were busy unloading motorcycles, four-wheelers and preparing for another day riding through the hills of southwestern Idaho. For the citizen-soldiers of Payette’s Alpha Troop, 2nd Squadron, 116th Brigade Combat Team, the vast, secluded Big Willow training area has evolved into a nearly perfect marriage between part-time soldier training and recreation. Last weekend, the troopers were out in force at Big Willow, conducting key training sessions on items like land navigation and night driving. While there are no live fire ranges, and the Guardsmen do not carry ammunition, the site has become a crucial area for training, Alpha Troop Commander, 1st Lt. Been Cook said. “They (Guardsmen) hate to be pinned up in the armory. This is better than talking about training in the armory,” he said last weekend. Cook said the unique dual-use aspect of training at Big Willow is a plus for his unit, especially because there are so many residents also utilizing the area. “You will always be interacting with civilians in anything we do anymore,” he said. Training in an area that is accessible and used by residents provides members of Alpha Troop with an extra dimension to their exercises the unit may not acquire anywhere else. “It’s the third element you don’t always get,” Cook said. As the National Guard across the nation finds itself deploying overseas more and more, its soldiers also are encountering more situations where civilian interaction is part of any combat zone. That element is a crucial challenge to any military organization entering a foreign, war-torn nation, Cook said. “You may or may not have to adjust your mission in that type of situation,” he said. The Big Willow site evolved into a premier low-impact training area for the Guardsmen, which goes hand-in-hand with the Guard’s effort to create more dual-use faculties for the public and citizen-soldiers. Finding a way to link the public to the Guard is a critical aspect to the future, Guard officials said, and the effort ties into historical roots of America’s citizen-soldier force. “In order to make a successful Guard unit, the community has to have some ownership,” Lt.Col. Kevin Sheehy, commander of Eastern Oregon’s Guard unit, said. Alpha Troop is part of the Idaho Army National Guard, not Oregon, but both organizations seem to be focused on building the community bridge. Exercises like the one last weekend at Big Willow help to reinforce the historical link between the nation’s citizen-soldier force and the people they represent and protect, Cook said. “This is where the taxpayer dollars go. This is dual use,” he said about the Big Willow training area. The drill weekend was designed to maximize the special attributes of Big Willow, Cook said, and the schedule was full. “We have a full weekend planned. We have training and generally go until midnight. Then we are up at 5 a.m. we’ll go to 1 or 2 a.m,” Cook said last Saturday. The hectic schedule, Cook said, pays dividends for individual Guardsmen. “By the time this drill ends, a lot of these guys are tired, but they’ll say ‘I’m tired, but it’s a good kind of tired.’” Cook said. The Big Willow training area is a definite plus for the Guardsmen, Cook said. “In our behalf it provides a great training capability. It’s close to the armory, but it is also open to the public, and we share responsibility,” he said. Pat Caldwell is the editor of the Argus Observer. He can be contacted at PatC@argusobserver.com