For those of you who are coming for the first time, this list will give you some heads up on the gear you will want to bring and general info to make your first time out more comfortable.

1. We'll be sleeping in who-knows-where - so a sleeping bag and a mat of some sort, will be a must.

2. Bring portable food. Sometimes we are provided with food (MREs), but most of the time we are on our own. Demonic power drinks are nice for that 4:30am wake up. Bring enough food to last you the entire drill weekend. There isn't a lot of time for a proper meal, so make the food you bring simple. The hours are often long - it isn't uncommon to go from 5 in the morning to 11 at night.

3. Keep the gear that you need during the day (guns, ammo, clothing, food, props) concise and portable. Sometimes we are in a single location and we can make a pile of gear that can be accessed easily. Other times we move. It makes it easier if your gear is organized in a bag you can get to without strewing it all over the place. Keep in mind that if it rains a water proof cover/tarp will be handy to keep your bag dry.

4. Often a training iteration only takes 20-30 min, so camel-baks, reloads, batteries, food, etc aren't necessary to carry on your person. If you have a tac vest, you won't need it - it will only make the body searches unnecessarily more complicated.

5. The lane leaders will have cases of bottled water, plenty of it, so don't sweat bringing a bunch of water. 

6. If you have a Midland GSMR radio bring it. Head sets and ear buds aren't necessary - they just get messed up in the numerous searches. Any other brand radio that has the two forms of sub channel encoding may work also - check this out before the day of use.

7. Most of the day, one way or the other, you will be searched - a lot. Your hats, and gloves will be taken off over, and over. Your boots will be untied, coats unzipped, etc. Basically you don't want to dress to fussy, or have anything that is "out of play" on your person. Leave your cell phones, cameras, power bars, etc in your gear bag. On the flip-side, bring stuff that the soldiers can find. They are practicing searching and determining the hazard of common objects. Bring stuff that your run-of-the-mill iraqi civilian or insurgent would carry; keys, dead cell phones, knives, wires, pliers, etc. Use your imagination.

Another aspect of being searched that you need to be prepared for - and to just be blunt - your privates will be groped. Butt cracks and crotches are a notorious hiding places for weapons and detonators, and the soldiers are being trained to be thorough in their searches. They don't like it any better than we do, so it won't be a prolonged effort. Basically come to grips with it and get through it.

8. Knee pads - bring them. We spend a lot of time on the ground. They ground we get placed on it's always friendly to the knees.

9. Eye protection - bring it, use it. This can be simple shooting goggles - we are at small risks for airsoft BBs, and greater risk for just normal debris flying around in the process of tussles.

10. The weather will be whatever it is and we will be in it for many, many hours with no shelter to speak of. If the weather is foul, bring thermals, extra socks, warm hats, gortex, wool - Avoid cotton. If you are new to outdoor survival issue re: clothing hit this link and read up. Bring an extra layer beyond what you think is reasonable.

If the weather is hot, bring a hat, light layers, and make sure you drink plenty of water.

11. Put some thought into your costume. If it's pouring rain, costuming isn't terribly feasible, but when it's not, have something you can contribute to the authentic look of things. Order a man-dress (kurta, Throbe, Dasha), get a head scarf (shemagh), or a kufi (skull cap). Iraqi dress in every which way, mostly mixed middle-eastern and american 70's (hit youtube for ideas). Don't come looking like the US troops. NO CAMO. If the weather is nasty, don't put your comfort and safety at risk, use what you have no matter what it looks like.

12. Airsoft gear - Bring the stuff you can afford to have kicked around a bit, or at the very least get dirty. You really won't be shooting much - mostly we die. It's very unusual to use even a bag of BBs. You want to take off any fancy optics, fussy parts, etc Go basic. Engagement ranges are pretty close even for airsoft. Have it batteried up and loaded - there isn't a lot of time between iterations. Also, if your gun goes down, and you don't have a backup, it's perfectly fine to aim and make sound effects. The NCOs and OCs make the kill calls. 99% of the time we are dead. Pistols are pretty handy for most scenarios. Even springers are of use as props. Typical engagements, unless we are on a long-term operation, are very short.

13. The most important thing to bring is the proper attitude. We are there as "tackling dummies". Our tasks are simple and repetitive and are prescribed by the NCOs. We aren't there to compete with the soldiers, or be measured by them in any way. We don't tell them what they are doing wrong, or correct them. We don't have to be tough, or cool, or tactical, or funny. We are there to let them practice their procedures, over and over, and as they get better we can adapt our performances as the NCOs dictate. One thing that is critical to remember; these guys are training to shoot at people for real, and in turn get shot at - and sometimes killed. Joking and reveling in their deaths as if it's a game is off-limits. We all can share a laugh over some good moments, and even share some grins with the soldiers after we all end up dead, but keep the laughs respectful. A lot of the soldiers are also very new at what they are doing. You will see a lot of stupid mistakes - don't get disdainful, just commit yourself to giving them as many chances as they need to get it right.

14. We each assume our own personal liability in this activity. You will be asked to sign a waiver to participate that releases everyone from blame. You must be 18, and take responsibility for your own health care. We aren't suing the military if we end up with a broken arm. None of the soldiers will hurt any of us on purpose, but we are performing in a full contact environment and accidents can happen. There are a number of medics with the unit that treat us if an accident does happen, and we have a number of our own membership that are medical people; so we have emergencies covered. If your stuff gets broken no one will be paying for it - so take only stuff that you can afford to lose or fix. If you are using any military equipment, be very careful with it, and be absolutely sure it is returned to the person who gave it to you. Contrary to popular belief, the units are not well funded. If we break or lose their equipment they loose valuable resources for future training.

15. Alcohol is off limits to the soldiers, and while we are on their turf we have a no alcohol policy also.

16. You may be put on a training lane and asked to the same tasks over and over, for both days. It may not be the sexy stuff. As we can rotate people we will. The NCOs biggest priority is having OPFOR on the lanes that know the routine, and are good at it. Our own personal preferences and amusement level is not a priority.

17. We are a close group, and we like it that way. We have a lot of fun and we are supportive of each other. We have a lot of different ages of people, from a lot of walks of life. We all get to practice tolerance of one another at some point or another. Long hours, little sleep, and bad weather can pull nerves tight - so a good sense of humor is a must. If you are in an activity that is starting to cause undo anxiety for you, please mention this to your lane leader and we will move you to another activity. There is no shame in being emotionally overwhelmed by some of the training activities, simply speak up and you will be taken care of.

18. Physical engagement happens sometimes. When we are acting hostile and uncooperative we are going to be man-handled. If you have a problem with this, just give the scene the proper amount of struggle, and then go compliant. Apart from very heated scenarios, the soldiers are careful to not hurt us. Some of our members like to push the struggle for more added realism. If you want to do this, just be aware that the soldiers will also take it up a notch. Realistically all struggle should come to an end when you have a gun pointed at your head.

Important: we do not seek to harm any soldier. If your acting struggles can easily result in the harm of one of the soldier - do not do it! Any soldier who is hurt during training loses valuable training opportunities and then has to struggle to catch up with his squad members - who also lose a valuable team member. Accidents do happen, but the WILL NOT happen due to our poor judgement. When engaging the soldiers with airsoft guns, do what you can to aim for the body mass, and not face and neck.

19. Only the lane leaders should be talking to the NCOs or OCs. We don't offer up unsolicited opinions, or compliments to the soldiers. Just because you think they did a good job at something doesn't mean their NCO does. We can't afford to send mixed signals to the soldiers we are training. If you see something problematic, report it to your lane leader who, in turn, will talk with the NCO when appropriate. DO NOT talk when the NCOs are talking. Even if the OPFOR group is standing off from a debrief, be respectful of side chatter that can be disruptive.

20. What makes our presence at these training drills valuable is the character acting we bring. Realism is vital to giving these guys the best shot at being prepared. Before you enter a scenario, think about your role, and how you will behave. Have a simple back-story worked up in your head that you can draw on. If you are pretending to be a Iraqi civilian being stopped by American soldiers, how will you respond? Anger, outrage, fear, stoicism? All these are options. Your lane leaders will have a pretty clear idea what the situations will require and can give you guidance as to what kind of characters will be needed to support the training goals. The acting is far more important than any weapons or props we bring.