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Iraq survival guide now online

Hot off the Web, an electronic version of a new handbook for soldiers on how to survive their first 100 days in Iraq can be seen online.

Deploying soldiers are encouraged to log in with their Army Knowledge Online passwords to the Center for Army Lessons Learned at http://call.army.mil and review the guidelines gleaned from more than 1,700 soldiers who responded to a survey six months ago.

A paper version for basic trainees was supposed to be issued by January, but has been held up at the Government Printing Office until sometime in February.

Two more handbooks will be published using the same information – one will be geared to junior leaders and commanders at battalion level and below, the other will be for unit staff members. They are scheduled to be available in March and June, respectively.

About 1,000 interviews were conducted during the month of August in person with soldiers in redeploying units in Kuwait and others at Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Carson, Colo. and Fort Stewart, Ga.

The remaining 737 who answered the survey did so on the CALL Website.

“There’s no doubt that the early part of the deployment is the most dangerous, when people are understanding their environment,” said Col. Steven Mains, director of CALL at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., which designed and undertook the survey.

In the survey, which contained 23 questions about individual soldier behavior, unit leadership, equipment and pre-deployment training, soldiers were asked to discuss what affected their ability to survive in the first 100 days.

In addition to the obvious causes of casualties in the first 100 days of their combat tours, such as explosive devices, soldiers cited factors such as allowing oneself to become complacent to potential danger and a resourceful enemy who closely observed U.S. tactics to adapt attack strategies.

A majority felt survival depends on:

• Staying aware of one’s surroundings.

• Listening to leaders.

• Avoiding routine or predictable patterns.

• Following standard operating procedures.

• Using individual protective gear and up-armored vehicles.