Nat'l Guard truckers get ground-combat training for Iraq convoy defense

[rainbow4321]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D87RMC300.html


The Army, facing a personnel crunch in Iraq, is training Air National Guard truck drivers for one of its most dangerous missions: convoy defense.

The first class of a new six-week convoy training course starts Monday at Camp Bullis with 10 truckers. Five more airmen were scheduled to arrive on Feb. 6.

For the Air Guard drivers — many without recent weapons training — it will be a jarring transformation.

The Army, short-handed and spread thin, has turned to the Air Force and Navy last year to augment its convoys in Iraq. Air guard spokesman Lt. Col. Mike Milord calls the newly trained personnel "up-armored airmen."

[shoelace414]

1. I was wondering

when they would start using the Air Force and Navy personnel