White tape on the grass represented the target area’s concrete walls and buildings. The soldiers call it a glass house, and it provided an opportunity to review placement and timing of the upcoming exercise.

The soldiers split into four groups – corresponding to the Stryker in which they would ride – and walked through plans for the situational training exercise. Step by step, Lt. Kearen Feller and Staff Sgt. Sean Milligan described how the mission should unfold and how to deal with any contingencies, like gunshots coming from the surrounding forest.

For almost an hour, the two yelled over the hum of running Stryker engines. Soldiers marched through each step – setting up teams to grab anyone who runs from the target area, securing buildings – through wet grass, using only light from nearby streetlamps.

Milligan reviewed the rules of engagement. Many people in Iraq own AK-47 assault rifles, he said, so not everyone who carries one can be shot at. If a person just has the rifle slung over his shoulder, do not engage. Once he raises it, he becomes a threat.

But there are a different set of rules for someone brandishing a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.

“If he has an RPG,” he said, “then smoke him.”

“This,” Lt. Kearen Feller said, pointing to the whiteboard behind him, “is Operation Comanche Shock.”

Feller delivered the operational orders of the mission – surround a safe house and capture the leader of a terrorist cell – to the platoon's squad and team leaders. The soldiers would strike at 4:30 a.m., when it was still dark outside. Using the illustration on the dry-erase board, he explained the role each Stryker team would play in the operation. Each building in the target area was numbered and given a function – one was the casualty collection point, another a place for soldiers to question detainees, yet another the location to bring any women who soldiers apprehend.

The lieutenant also put it in a larger perspective. A color-coded map showed the boundaries separating Sunni, Shiite and mixed neighborhoods.

“I was enlisted for a while before I became an officer,” Feller said later, “and I try to use as a lot of visuals. There’s nothing more boring than an officer just standing up there, reading off note cards.”

Soldiers jotted down notes as Feller went over radio frequencies to use. He told them several passwords to identify each other during the operation – and several words soldiers and role players could use to signify real-life harm.

Staff Sgt. Sean Milligan went over other details for the exercise, like setting up a location for injured soldiers and how to properly detain women. He also reviewed contingencies for real danger – if someone is injured or if a Stryker drives into a ditch.

And Feller talked about the proper response for other situations.

“If you see any vehicles outside the objective,” he said, “take them out with the .50-cal.”

Lt. Kearen Feller sat at the head of a well-worn wooden table. Beneath a sheet of laminate on the tabletop sat a map of Fort Lewis that detailed every street, building hill and waterway. Feller sorted through stacks of papers with the objectives of the upcoming situational training exercise.

The exercise involved driving four Strykers to a safe house – located on the southern portion of Fort Lewis – and capturing the leader of a terrorist cell. Aerial photos of the area and a rendering of the objective area were taped to the wall behind Feller, as were a photo of the cell leader and a flowchart showing the structure of his organization.

“This is the paperwork part,” said Feller, the platoon leader. “It’s about getting everything lined up right now.”

Twenty feet away, other members of Comanche Company trade stories from previous deployments, like finding caches of AK-47s when clearing houses in Baghdad's Ghazaliya neighborhood or the madness of a riot in nearby Sadr City.

Staff Sgt. Sean Milligan, the platoon sergeant, also sat in for much of the preparations. He made notes in a green notebook as the two decided what soldiers would ride in which Stryker. And the two discussed the weather. It was chilly with a light drizzle, which meant they would tell their drivers to go slower on the dirt roads.

“If it isn’t raining,” Feller said, “you aren’t training.”

I'm with 3rd Platoon of Comanche Company of the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment -- a unit of the 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division -- for a situational training exercise, which seeks to emulate real-life situations. The soldiers will wear full gear, and role players will step in as Iraqis.

Not sure how often I'll be able to post, but keep checking back for updates.

Bret DiFrancesco bears unseen scars of war.

“I don’t sleep much anymore,” the specialist stationed at Fort Lewis said. “Just a couple of hours if I’m lucky.”

DiFrancesco, 29, also is recovering from an injury that disrupted his sense of balance. At the worst point of his injury, jogging led to motion sickness and staircases became nightmares.

As part of his recovery, he attended physical therapy sessions once or twice weekly at MultiCare Health System’s Vestibular Balance Clinic – one of a handful of soldiers sent to the Tacoma clinic this year.

“These appointments don’t solve everything,” he said last month during his final visit to the clinic, “but they’re helping a lot.”

The infantryman from Minnesota was on a dismounted patrol in Ramadi, Iraq, two years ago when a nearby roadside bomb exploded. Shrapnel tore into both arms and his right leg; the blast threw him to the ground.Both eardrums were blown out.

He was eventually diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and a mild traumatic brain injury, which have caused his balance problems.

Madigan Army Medical Center referred him to the MultiCare clinic six months ago. He attended weekly sessions with physical therapist Karen Perz to regain his balance.

“They say my vertical line – what I consider my vertical line – is canted,” he said “It’s never going to get fixed. You need to retrain your mind.”

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