This story originally ran in the Nov. 17, 2004, issue of the News-Miner.
University of Alaska Fairbanks journalism student Casey Grove stood in a corner and recorded events unfolding before him as soldiers interacted with a group of Muslim villagers.
“There’s a lot of people surrounding the sheik now,” the reporter murmured into a hand-held tape recorder. “They’re trying to make sure he doesn’t move into a dangerous area.”
Minutes later, Grove and an officer discussed how far he could venture out into the hostile village.
“I want to go hide behind that overturned car because it looks like such a battle zone,” Grove said.
First Lt. Anthony Demattis of A Co. 2-1 Infantry Battalion shot Grove a wary glance and told him if he ventured beyond the car he might get shot.
Though the scene that played out Tuesday was just an exercise held on the Fort Wainwright Army Post, it reflected new realities of the modern world for both soldiers and reporters. The practice of embedding reporters, popularized in the siege of Iraq last year, means new realities for both groups.
In Tuesday’s drill, Grove was one of three journalism students role-playing with Fort Wainwright soldiers. They’re part of a University of Alaska Fairbanks journalism class called Pen and Sword that concentrates on reporting on the military.
The soldiers of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team learn how to interact with media to simulate the degree of complexity they’ll have to deal with on the battlefield in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Soldiers are learning to give interviews, sometimes in the midst of a battle. Demattis shrugged and called this “just multitasking.” As he talked, his eyes scanned the area around him.
“As long as it doesn’t get too crazy and they don’t take off running some place I wouldn’t run, it’s all good,” Demattis said about the embedded reporters. “They’re not going to do something to get themselves injured. They might do something by accident, but anybody could do something by accident.”
On the first day of class in September, UAF journalism professor Brian O’Donoghue told his pupils they would be concentrating on the 172nd as it transforms into the third Stryker Brigade and prepares for a deployment overseas next year.
O’Donoghue’s six students have been taking turns going out with soldiers into the field. One student, Alex Foote, has acted as an embedded reporter in three events. The students have to write a story, due by midnight the day they’re acting as reporters.
He said he doesn’t plan to become a war correspondent, especially after spending part of the day watching soldiers simulate dying nearby as he sat in the back of a Stryker vehicle. But he is enjoying the opportunity.
“It’s just a really cool experience to be out there and see what these guys are training for,” Foote said. “Soldiers are humans just like everyone else.”
Foote said he’s been encouraged to ask tough questions regarding casualties.
“We’re doing our best to replicate it here,” said Col. Michael Shields, commander of the 172nd.