Images From Oregon Guard Mission in Mongolia

Specialist April Dustin with the Oregon National Guard took these photos of Oregon soldiers on a training mission in Mongolia called Khan Quest 2006.

Specialist Dugald Campbell of Corvallis, Oregon

(MONGOLIA) - Oregon Army National Guard Soldiers from B Company, 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry, based out of Corvallis, have been participating in United Nations peacekeeping training for the last two weeks for Khaan Quest 2006 in Mongolia.

These photos feature Soldiers from our area training in Distribution Site procedures, in which they practice securing a site to distribute food items to crowd of villagers.

90 Oregon Guard troops are working with soldiers from many nations that participate in United Nations operations, and commanders say the soldiers on the deployment are immersed in world culture as well as military training.

Soldiers from throughout Oregon and Washington are working with national guard troops from several other states.

"Oregon National Guard Soldiers, from B Company, 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry, Spc. Dugald Campbell (left), of Corvallis, Pvt. 1st Class James Roe IV (center), of Corvallis, and Sgt. Brandon Hern (right), of Whidbey Island, Wash., provide security for food distribution trucks during Distribution Site training August 16th, at Five Hills Training Center, near Ulaanbataar, Mongolia, for Khaan Quest 2006, UN peacekeeping exercise. Photo by Spc. April L. Dustin, Oregon National Guard Public Affairs

Oregon National Guard Soldiers, from B Company, 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry, Spc. Dugald Campbell (left), of Corvallis, Sgt. Kris Haney (center), of Independance, and Sgt. Brandon Hern (right), of Whidbey Island, Wash., provide security at a food distribution site during Distribution training August 16th, at Five Hills Training Center, near Ulaanbataar, Mongolia, for Khaan Quest 2006, UN peacekeeping exercise. Photo by Spc. April L. Dustin

Oregon National Guard Soldiers, from B Company, 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry, Pvt. 1st Class James Roe IV (left), of Corvallis, Cpl. Brian Tuttle (center), of Keizer, and Spc. Joel Steinman of Vancouver, Wash., simulate controlling a crowd of a villagers at a food distribution site during Distribution training August 16, at Five Hills Training Center, near Ulaanbataar, Mongolia, for Khaan Quest 2006, UN peacekeeping exercise
Photo by Spc. April L. Dustin

Oregon National Guard Soldiers, from B Company, 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry, Sgt. Brandon Hern (left), of Whidbey Island, Wash., and Pvt. 1st Class Geoffery Thoma (right), of Albany, simulate controlling a crowd of a villagers at a food distribution site during Distribution training August 16, at Five Hills Training Center, near Ulaanbataar, Mongolia, for Khaan Quest 2006, UN peacekeeping exercise. Photo by Spc. April L. Dustin

Oregon National Guard Soldier, from B Company, 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry, Spc. Joel Steinman of Vancouver, Wash., simulates controlling a crowd of a villagers at a food distribution site during Distribution training August 16, at Five Hills Training Center, near Ulaanbataar, Mongolia, for Khaan Quest 2006, UN peacekeeping exercise.

Photo by Spc. April L. Dustin

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I am the photographer that took these photos. Allow me clarify that the Mongolians pictured above are "pretending" to be "villagers" while the soldiers are being tested by the United Nations Training Assistance Team on how they react to the situation. The "villagers" were being played by soldiers, from the Mongolian Armed Forces' 150th Peacekeeping Operations Battalion, dressed in plain clothes, their job was to provide a realistic training atmosphere. If you thought this was a real situation, then you can imagine how real it must have felt for the soldiers going through this training. Rest assured, at the end of each training day, these two opposing sides would shake hands and talk about what they learned from each other during the experience.

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