Donkeys help service members get hands-on training for Afghanistan

“C’mon girl, you can make it,’’ Lance Corporal Chad Campbell of Pleasant Hill, Mo., whispered into her ear.

“Only one more hill,’’ Lance Corporal Cameron Cross of Altus, Okla., said as he shoved Annie’s muscular hindquarters.

The red-hued donkey snorted and let loose that distinctive braying. She also dropped green foul-smelling clumps, which the Marines carefully sidestepped. On the rocky, uneven path, Annie never stumbled. A good donkey, Marines say, knows three steps ahead where it wants to walk.

For Campbell and Cross, the day with Annie could be a preview of days to come. Soon, the two might deploy to Afghanistan, where donkeys and mules have been the preferred mode of military transport for centuries - and remain so.

With the US shifting its focus from the deserts of Iraq to the mountains of Central Asia, this class on pack animals at Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center has become important to the new mission.

Opened in 1951 to train troops for Korea, the center with its several administrative buildings, barracks, enormous tent for visiting troops, and a few corrals is set on 47,000 acres of Toiyabe National Forest, where the Sierra Nevada’s peaks soar above 10,000 feet, perfect terrain to teach high-altitude combat skills.

Five donkeys, 24 mules, and five sergeant-trainers are stationed at the center for the animal-packing course, which is given eight times a year to Marines, Army soldiers, Navy SEALs, and some foreign troops.

The animal-packing course dates to the 1980s when the CIA sent operatives here before they were dispatched to help the Afghans fight the Soviet occupation force.

Humvees and helicopters are of limited use in Afghanistan’s mountains. There are few roads, and the air is thin. But a 1,000-pound mule or 400-pound donkey can easily carry a load one-third its weight, or more, if necessary.

“It’s a very primitive way to carry very modern weapons,’’ said Sergeant Joe Neal, one of the instructors. “But it works.’’

On the first day of the 12-day course, Campbell, Cross, and 40 other junior Marines, all from Camp Pendleton, listened at the corral in Pickel Meadows as instructors talked of battles won with the help of four-footed allies.

The students learned to pack machine guns, mortars, grenades, Javelin missiles, and M-16 ammunition, as well as food, water, and medical supplies - all needed to carry the fight to the enemy.

“The Taliban are born mountain men; they can move faster in that terrain than we can,’’ said Staff Sergeant Tyler McDaniel, an Iraq War veteran who is lead instructor for the course. “The pack animals are a force-multiplier. They make sure we can get enough gear and men to the fight.’’

“This is all new to me,’’ said Corporal Bradley Neuenburg, 20, a computer devotee from San Rafael. “I’m more used to basic syntax, binary language, and codes.’’