By The Associated Press
HOLTON, Kan. — Now roaming the nation’s heartland: British soldiers. But, like the Beatles four decades ago, these British invaders are friendly.
Some 200 British army and Royal Marine officers are currently in northeast Kansas, training and building relationships with American officers they are likely to see again.
''It’s all about developing skills, knowledge, attributes and motivation for the troops,’' said Maj. Jo Bell, spokeswoman for the British Defense Academy traveling with the officers. ''It’s all about building up their confidence.’'
This is the second year the British have conducted exercises near Holton, about 30 miles north of Topeka and an hour from Fort Leavenworth. The officers did similar training at Fort Benning, Ga., when the program began four years ago.
The three-week course teaches them how to think and assess battlefield situations and to integrate infantry, armor, artillery and other types of military units.
The program also helps each side examine how the two nations make military decisions. Officers are given an Iraq scenario, and then develop a plan for both armies to fight cohesively against a counterinsurgency.
''It’s a great opportunity for the U.S. and U.K. soldiers to rub shoulders and discuss their experiences in Iraq,’' said Dave Goebel, a staff member at Fort Leavenworth coordinating with the British.
More than 70 percent of the British have served in Iraq at least once, and 60 percent served in Northern Ireland. Some also have been to Kosovo and Afghanistan. After they complete their coursework later this spring, the officers will take staff jobs or command of their own units.
This week, teams of about a dozen officers traveled in and around Holton, population 3,350. There were no weapons or tracked vehicles, just white vans with Union Jack plates on the front.
Maj. Dougie Lord, a team leader with the Joint Services Command and Staff College in Swindon, England, said one reality officers confront is that terrain on a map is different in the field.
For example, there’s Elk Creek, east of Holton, thought to be a simple tributary of the Delaware River.
Not so.
Unlike English streams, there were steep banks and deep, swift water that could tie up soldiers for the better part of a day. Plowed fields nearby were soggy from winter storms. Tracked vehicles would get stuck until spring.
The British were slated to conduct urban exercises on Thursday at Fort Leavenworth, in which an attack by insurgents will be simulated.
Lord said the officers have found Holton’s people and cuisine engaging. His group started Tuesday at the S&A Downtown Cafe where they enjoyed a ''nice big American breakfast’’ on the square across from the courthouse.
Kathy Essary, working tables for the lunch crowd, said the British first came to the restaurant last year. It seemed like a long way for the British to travel to train, but she said that it was no different ''than our sergeants going over there.’'
''They’re nice people. They’re easy to wait on,’' Essary said. ''They tip quite well.’'
Lt. Col. Ian Williams, head of the British staff directing the officers, said coming to Kansas gives officers a perspective on U.S. culture unlike experiences in metropolitan areas.
''A big city is a big city. But here you get a sense of what the people are like,’' Williams said. ''Having served with the U.S. in a number of operations before, I haven’t really had the insight into how they really live their lives, because I’ve been blinded by New York, that that’s America.’'
Maj. Alan Alford, a member of the 1st Queen’s Dragoon Guards, said the officers also were struck by the patriotism displayed by Kansans, from flying flags to ''support the troops’’ magnets on pickup trucks.
''We just don’t do that in the U.K.,’' he said. ''People are just waking up to that.’'