CAMP SHELBY, Miss. -- Lightning ripped through the night sky and rain poured down as soldiers navigated muddy roads, fending off simulated bomb blasts and insurgent attacks just miles from the Gulf Coast.
More than 3,000 soldiers with the Knoxville-based 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment are completing training here before they leave for Iraq the first week of February.
A six-day final evaluation period for members of Troop R, 3rd Squadron of the 278th, began Wednesday.
That night, a 10-vehicle convoy left the squadron's barracks to patrol pine tree-lined trails just large enough for their humvees to pass. Just after leaving the base, each vehicle's gunner test-fired their weapons.
Pfc. Adrian "Shorty" Humes, 24, of Cleveland, Tenn., lifted the handle on his turret and swung his M240 machine gun to point into the trees, pulling the charging handle back before squeezing the trigger to pop a short string of blanks.
As the diesel-engine truck rolled along, the sixth in a convoy of 10, the private's leader shouted reminders to his young gunner.
"Keep your head on a swivel," Sgt. Tom Coleman said.
The 38-year-old sergeant, who lives in Cleveland, is preparing for his first combat deployment but has spent more than a dozen years in the Navy, regular Army and National Guard.
Sunlight faded fast with heavy storm clouds overhead as the convoy snaked through the woods. Rarely would a minute pass without a beep from the truck radio and messages being passed back to other vehicles.
Spc. Wes Howard, 37, of Ringgold, Ga., is heading into his second combat deployment. The UTC employee served with the 181st during its deployment to Camp Bucca, Iraq, from 2007 to 2008. During that mission, soldiers worked security at a detainee prison in the south of the country and some soldiers did prison work in Baghdad.
As the convoy rolled along, Sgt. Coleman said he was convinced simulated improvised explosive devices or paintballs fired from opposition forces hiding in the trees would hit their truck.
But the first attack came to the rear Humvee -- a suicide bomber in a speeding truck. The soldiers waved orange flags, but it was no use and the gunner fired .50 caliber blanks to "disable" the vehicle.
At each halt, the trucks would stay between 75 and 100 meters apart and Pfc. Humes would circle around to scan the dark with his machine gun.
Less than 30 minutes later, as the convoy pushed along, an "insurgent" armed an IED near one of the lead trucks, but a gunner heard the noise and the bomb went off early. During their briefing after the mission, the group learned that the IED disabled one truck but not the intended target.
Throughout the drive, the soldiers battled Mississippi rain and mud more often than bombs or bullets. Less than three hours into the exercise, the evaluators monitoring the training called off the exercise as bolts of lighting tore through the sky and rain began to pour in sheets, fogging up the truck windows.
After a few wrong turns in the pitch-black forest, the convoy reached a highway that led back to the main part of the base and a dry barracks.
As the humvee cruised down the road, Pfc. Humes' face glowed blue as he texted "Good night" to his twin 4-year-old daughters, Jakyra and Makya, and his 2-year-old son Gauge, who were all getting ready for bed back in Cleveland.