A Yankee in the Bundeswehr
July 23, 2016
Face first in the burning hot gravel while someone screams at me in broken English to empty my pockets and keep my hands outstretched, it is easy to forget that I am on an army base in Bavaria - and that this rebel insurgent is a sergeant in the German army who is playing a role, albeit with terrifying conviction.
Whether you are lying on the ground with a gun in your face or trying to keep out of the crossfire between government forces and rebels, it is incredibly difficult to maneuver while wearing a 20-kilogram (44-pound) flak jacket and combat helmet. Let alone make sure your team is accounted for, bring yourself to safety or think about what to do next while your adrenaline is pumping in the mock-deadly chaos.
That is what the German army, or Bundeswehr, is offering in its "Hostile Environment Training for Journalists" course: a chance to learn by doing in violent scenarios.
In regions such as Syria, Afghanistan, or South Sudan, being a civilian is by no means protection from execution or kidnapping, as evinced in cases like those of James Foley, who was murdered by "Islamic State," and Austin Tice, who is still being held hostage. Indeed, being a member of the press may make you a more valuable target for propaganda purposes.
Dallas, Paris, Munich - as the definition of "hostile environment" is increasingly applied to places closer to home for Western journalists, the greater the imperative becomes to know what to do when reporting on world events places you in danger.
"We're not here to turn you into soldiers, but the need for preparation cannot be overemphasized," says our teacher, a lieutenant colonel with 20 years in the Bundeswehr behind him, warning us that the week ahead will test our physical and psychological limits just as much as real deployment might.
Complex questions
"Help us! He's dying!" shouts a member of the UN peacekeeping force who has come to rescue my team and friendly villagers from militants who have robbed and attacked us.
What do you do? Is it incumbent upon a journalist, or any civilian bystander, to help a soldier? The short answer: If you can, and it doesn't interfere with your personal safety, then yes.
But the more complex questions must be decided in context, in a split second. How do you know which locals to trust and which, either informed by past experience or under present political pressure, might do you harm?
Later, we carry not only our heavy protective gear but all our personal belongings in the blazing sun for five hours as we try to find our way out of the conflict zone. We are forced to reckon with our limitations as exhaustion, frustration and hunger take over.
In addition to such scenarios, high-stakes first aid, how to recognize what weapons can cause what kind of damage and what it feels like when 3 kilograms of explosives detonate mere meters away from you are just a few facets of a course based on a single principle: survival.
Anguish, stress, exhaustion
The overwhelming physicality of the training is punctuated by seminars on stress management and mental anguish - both of which are essential to working in conflict zones.
"Big boys don't cry, right?" the lieutenant colonel asks.
He shakes his head, introducing the base's psychologist, who will provide us with mental exercises to deal with what we may come up against.
"Wrong."
Days of nonstop movement, discipline and honing of 360-degree situational awareness are all leading up to one thing: a simulated kidnapping by terrorists based on a real-life hostage situation.
So as not to ruin the surprise for future participants or spoil the meticulous efforts by the Bundeswehr to make our experience match the real thing as closely as possible without causing any permanent harm, details in this area must remain vague. Suffice it to say that afterward, myself and my fellows all agreed that we had come out dazed, spent and with a better understanding of what we were capable of.
A week ago I would have never believed that I could get up before dawn and eat, shower and prepare for a day of demanding work in less than half an hour. Nor that I could sleep on an army cot in my boots, ready any minute for an attack. Nor that I might be able to stand up to terrorist interrogation.
The feeling goes beyond a newfound respect for German soldiers and the journalists embedded with them in dangerous regions. Members of the press tend to think of themselves as observers from on high, dispensing with speculation and delivering just the concrete truth. But war is messy, and so is the way you might respond when you find yourself facing something terrifying, even if you follow all the rules.
"The need for preparation cannot be overemphasized," the lieutenant colonel says - and neither can the immense burden undertaken by those who live or work in areas afflicted with violence.