Sounds of gunfire and troops on the move paint part of the picture of a mock mission on an Afghani village. Soldiers shouting orders add a little more reality to a scene far distant from the office back home for these Stateline employers on a trip to Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. "Have no clue with anything with the military," Lynette Stevens said. "Didn't know as much as what we saw here today. I mean there's alot going on down here," Michael Skoff said. Stevens and Skoff, both Aflac employees from Rockford, traveled to Fort Chaffee on an educational trip about the National Guard. After their initial flight, they met Coronel Steven Huber from Byron. He works with them back home. "I'm very happy they're here. I appreciate their support," Huber said. Visitors flew in a Shinook helicopter to the combat exerscise, a chopper often used to move troops into battle and transport artillery. "The helicopter ride was just awesome," Stevens said. They not only flew like the soldiers but ate like them too. Soldiers coached them through a meal ready-to-go, or MRE's as the military calls them. "It was very actually very good," Stevens said. While the food was easy to stomach, the combat was a harsh look into the War on Terrorism made all more real by actual Afghani people taking part in the drill. "Having the Afghanistan people there, actually there that came from Afghanistan, that made it more authentic," Stevens said. They witnessed mock causalities too. Here a wounded American is pulled into a truck for treatment on the base.
"It's not just fun and games out there. It's real," Skoff said. A different experience that's left these visitors with a greater respect and appreciation for their collegaue in the guard."It's something were definitely behind him 100 percent," Stevens said. Coronel Huber from Byron says having this support from his employer gives him peace of mind that when he returns home from Afghanistan he'll have a job ready and waiting for him. And he can essentially continue where he left off. Huber says he'll leave sometime this Fall. In the meantime, he and nearly 3-thousand Illinois soldiers will remain in Fort Chaffee for the rest of this week wrapping up the combat drill experience.