FORT RILEY, Kan. — If there’s a Ground Zero for sculpting the end-game strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan, you can find it at this historic Army base on the Plains.

Here, where U.S. troops have prepared for war for 150 years, more than 1,400 soldiers were being shaped Tuesday into military transition teams.

Among them were 16 members of the Nebraska Army National Guard who are getting ready for deployment to Afghanistan in mid-May.

On a day when those troops arose at 5:30 a.m. for a 3-mile run in the brisk morning air, they learned how to dislodge and escape from their Humvees in rollover drills.

In between, they sat down to eat lunch with a familiar face from back home.

Sen. Ben Nelson was on a tour of Fort Riley, the hub for training U.S. troops who, in turn, will train and assist Iraqi and Afghan troops to take over the fight for the future of their countries. More than 2,100 U.S. troops already have been trained here and deployed.

Everywhere he went, Nelson assured soldiers and their families that a Congress increasingly divided over the war in Iraq remains united in its support of the troops.

“Be assured, even the person who hates this war the most won’t underfund you,” he said. 

“We all appreciate your service,” Nelson told the 16 Nebraskans as they gathered outside the mess hall for a group photo with the senator at the behest of Brig. Gen. James Yarbrough, assistant commander of the 1st Infantry Division.

That storied army combat unit, which conducts the transition team training for Army, Air Force, Navy, National Guard and Reserve troops, is an appropriate fit for the Nebraska soldiers. It’s known as the Big Red One, with a shoulder patch to match its name.

“Be safe, God bless you,” Nelson told the troops, before posing for individual snapshots with a number of them. 

Nelson, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and chairman of its military personnel subcommittee, voted last week in support of a Senate plan urging a phased withdrawal from Iraq. The proposal, contained in a war supplemental appropriations bill, included a non-binding goal of withdrawing most U.S. troops by the end of next March.

But Nelson, who will serve as one of six senators on a conference committee that will negotiate differences with a House bill, told a small gathering of Fort Riley wives he’ll not agree to the House’s mandatory timeline.

“If it’s a hard date, I won’t vote for it,” he said.

At lunch, a number of Nebraska Guardsmen who are preparing for a one-year deployment as an embedded transition team in Afghanistan shared stories about the first six weeks of their 60 days of training. 

They’re becoming acquainted with the Dari language, learning how to say “hello” and “how are you” and “thank you” and “what’s your name.”

They’re studying the Afghan culture, training with weapons like the M4 assault rifle and grenade launchers, learning basic medical skills, driving Humvees, pushing themselves to improve their physical fitness.

They live in a simulated Forward Operating Base at historic Camp Funston, where U.S. soldiers trained for combat in World War I and in 1918 carried with them an undetected virus that exploded into the influenza pandemic that killed millions around the globe.

At the camp, they deal with explosions, live small arms fire and loudspeakers simulating the Muslim call to prayer.

“A lot of us are anxious to get out of here and get on the mission,” said Master Sgt. Jeff Kuklis of Lincoln.

“We have every feeling you could have, including scared,” Sgt. Josh Armon of Lincoln said.

Both Kuklis and Maj. Charles Blankman of Omaha have three young children back home.

“That’s hard,” said Blankman, whose kids range from 3 to 10.

Although the deployment is scheduled to conclude in May 2008, there’s no way to know for certain when the soldiers will be coming home.

“That’s the surprise they save for the end,” said Staff Sgt. Jason Prieksat of Lyons with a grin.

Congress has not proposed an Afghan timeline.

Earlier, at the meeting with Army spouses, Clessie Lemay told Nelson she is frustrated that news reports emphasize only the bad news from Iraq.

“We know our husbands are doing great things,” she said.  “We hear about all the good things that are happening in Iraq.”

After a tour of the base hospital, where 300 wounded troops received rehabilitation services last month, Nelson said he hopes the military can develop “a seamless approach” in transitioning soldiers into Veterans Administration health services.

At a briefing, Gen. Yarbrough told Nelson he believes he can see evidence of “a sense of urgency on the part of the Iraqis that had not been there before” to resolve the issues that feed continued instability and lead to violence.

On the U.S. side, the general said, the military has embraced the need to develop what he described as some of “the squishy skills” now being taught to transition teams.

“It used to be just attack and defend.  Those days are over.”

Choosing his words carefully, Yarbrough told Nelson: “Many of us have played sports and none of us walked off the field before the game was over.”

On his flight back to the Millard airport, Nelson said he would give the military “an A-plus on everything I saw.”

The soldiers with whom he talked expressed “a consensus that the training is rigid and a feeling they are being prepared,” Nelson said.

“I thought their morale and spirit was really high.”

Nelson is planning to journey to Iraq soon for his third trip. He also has been to Afghanistan twice.

Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or at dwalton@journalstar.com.