Thousands of US troops on their way to war-ravaged Iraq have been testing their urban warfare and other fighting and survival skills on this firing range in the heart of Kuwait's northern desert.
"All US forces going into Iraq must undergo training in this range," spanning 15 square kilometers (six square miles), said Captain Randall Baucom of the US Army public affairs.
"Training is focused on urban warfare skills, house-to-house searches and fighting through buildings," Baucom told reporters as a logistics unit of the 2nd Medical Brigade test-fired their rifles before being sent north to Iraq. The United States is undertaking the largest movement of troops since World War II to replace its forces in Iraq.
Kuwait, which served as the main launchpad for the US-led war on Iraq last March, is now being used as a transit point for many US troops on their way in and out of the war-torn country.
"It's fine going into Iraq. My family understands the situation. I have an idea of what's going on there," said Colonel Michael Oddi, from Akron, Ohio, a doctor with the brigade.
"My father fought in World War II and my brother fought in Vietnam," said the 56-year-old cardiac surgeon after taking part in training for basic rifle shooting and self-defence skills.
US troops in Iraq have been the target of daily attack since ousting Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's regime in April. To date, 246 American soldiers have been killed in combat in Iraq since US President George W. Bush declared an end to major hostilities on May 1.
US and coalition forces from several countries stay at Camp Virginia, a US army base some 70 kilometres (45 miles) north-west of Kuwait City, for a few days before being deployed to various areas in Iraq.
During their brief stay, the troops undergo military training, mostly with live ammunition, at the Udairi Range, 15 kilometres (10 miles) north of the camp and 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the borders with Iraq.
The range was established a decade ago, in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War, when a US-led multinational coalition ousted occupying Iraqi troops from Kuwait.
The US permanently stations 25,000 troops in Kuwait to support Iraqi operations, Baucom said. They are stationed at two bases and at least five well-maintained desert camps.
"But between 2,000 to 4,000 US troops arrive in Kuwait daily as part of the rotation programme," he added.
Before arriving in Kuwait, US forces undergo military training at home for between one and three months, depending on the nature of their mission in Iraq.
"Here, they have the last rehearsal before doing it for real" in Iraq, Baucom said.
Exercises have been continuous since January 10, involving combat units, infantry, field artillery and other units, he said.
Japanese troops being deployed to Iraq on Japan's first mission in a combat zone since World War II are also due to undergo training at the range within the next two to three weeks, Baucom said.
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