Explanation Why Dutch Soldiers Were In The Indiana Camp

Simi Poetsema, 26, was identified Monday as the soldier who died of his wounds in Saturday’s shooting outside a Hampton Inn where the men were staying. The other two soldiers have injuries that are not expected to be life-threatening, officials said. Police arrested an Indianapolis man Tuesday in connection with the shooting, but have not released additional information about the circumstances of the shooting. Before the shooting, which Indianapolis’ mayor said happened after a fight at a local bar, the men’s business was about an hour southeast — at the Muscatatuck Urban Education Center. WHY TRAIN IN INDIANA? Foreign soldiers often go to United States military facilities that replicate the “unpredictable realism” of battlefield situations within an environment that a soldier would encounter. In Muscatatuck – where the three members of the Dutch Commando Corps involved in the shooting were training – “everything in the town and surrounding property, including people, is ‘playable,’” its website says. It is a 1,000-acre (405 ha) complex that trumpets hyper-focused education in land, air, water, technology and space. The number of international soldiers who train at the camp varies each year, Indiana National Guard spokesman Jeff Lowry said in a statement. Soldiers’ individual training depends on the unit’s needs, and in this case, the Dutch Ministry of Defense provided that direction, Lowry said. “The training they will do will revolve around civilian operations that could include a variety of training events from search and rescue to escape and capture,” Lowry said. Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a retired Marine, said Muscat is “essentially a small town” for combat training. U.S. allies with troops from countries without the capability for such facilities can learn in an environment that replicates the one they might fight in, he said. “The Europeans have things like that,” he said, but the U.S. facilities are “more complex, partly because we have more money and probably because we have more space and bigger forces.” WHAT EXACTLY IS IN MUSCATATUK? The Muscatatuck complex has been a state-run center for the developmentally disabled since the 1920s, housing more than 2,000 residents at one point before it was closed by the state. The Indiana National Guard then took over the site in 2005. Military officials saw the campus of more than 60 buildings, nine miles of roads and more than a mile of tunnels—in a rural setting isolated from nearby communities—as an ideal place to replicate an urban area for military training, including chemical or biological attacks. “Our primary intent is to simulate real-world urban scenarios through real and virtual training for first responders involved in counterterrorism operations,” said then-Indiana Guard Maj. Gen. Martin Umbarger in announcing the creation of the Muscatac center in 2004. The Indiana National Guard said in a statement that the center is used for training by the Department of Defense “as well as other allies.” These materials detail a training environment that mimics a city—with a five-story hospital, an oil refinery, a coal-fired steam plant, among many other features—as well as pieces of infrastructure that might be found in a war zone, such as an aircraft carrier. demolished, searchable ‘rubble buildings’, an underground garage and a wrecked rail bike. WHY WERE THE SOLDIERS AWAY FROM THE BASE? The Muscatatuck center is part of a larger installation called Atterbury-Muscatatuck that covers 36,000 acres, including some lodging options, where soldiers typically stay for seven to 14 days, Lowry said. It is unclear whether the Dutch soldiers remained at the facility during any of their training. ___ Associated Press writer Tom Davies in Indianapolis contributed to this report. Arleigh Rodgers is a member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative corps. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places reporters in local newsrooms to report on undercover issues. Follow her on Twitter at

title: “Explanation Why Dutch Soldiers Were In The Indiana Camp Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-17” author: “Winifred Hibert”

Simi Poetsema, 26, was identified Monday as the soldier who died of his wounds in Saturday’s shooting outside a Hampton Inn where the men were staying. The other two soldiers have injuries that are not expected to be life-threatening, officials said. Police arrested an Indianapolis man Tuesday in connection with the shooting, but have not released additional information about the circumstances of the shooting. Before the shooting, which Indianapolis’ mayor said happened after a fight at a local bar, the men’s business was about an hour southeast — at the Muscatatuck Urban Education Center. WHY TRAIN IN INDIANA? Foreign soldiers often go to United States military facilities that replicate the “unpredictable realism” of battlefield situations within an environment that a soldier would encounter. In Muscatatuck – where the three members of the Dutch Commando Corps involved in the shooting were training – “everything in the town and surrounding property, including people, is ‘playable,’” its website says. It is a 1,000-acre (405 ha) complex that trumpets hyper-focused education in land, air, water, technology and space. The number of international soldiers who train at the camp varies each year, Indiana National Guard spokesman Jeff Lowry said in a statement. Soldiers’ individual training depends on the unit’s needs, and in this case, the Dutch Ministry of Defense provided that direction, Lowry said. “The training they will do will revolve around civilian operations that could include a variety of training events from search and rescue to escape and capture,” Lowry said. Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a retired Marine, said Muscat is “essentially a small town” for combat training. U.S. allies with troops from countries without the capability for such facilities can learn in an environment that replicates the one they might fight in, he said. “The Europeans have things like that,” he said, but the U.S. facilities are “more complex, partly because we have more money and probably because we have more space and bigger forces.” WHAT EXACTLY IS IN MUSCATATUK? The Muscatatuck complex has been a state-run center for the developmentally disabled since the 1920s, housing more than 2,000 residents at one point before it was closed by the state. The Indiana National Guard then took over the site in 2005. Military officials saw the campus of more than 60 buildings, nine miles of roads and more than a mile of tunnels—in a rural setting isolated from nearby communities—as an ideal place to replicate an urban area for military training, including chemical or biological attacks. “Our primary intent is to simulate real-world urban scenarios through real and virtual training for first responders involved in counterterrorism operations,” said then-Indiana Guard Maj. Gen. Martin Umbarger in announcing the creation of the Muscatac center in 2004. The Indiana National Guard said in a statement that the center is used for training by the Department of Defense “as well as other allies.” These materials detail a training environment that mimics a city—with a five-story hospital, an oil refinery, a coal-fired steam plant, among many other features—as well as pieces of infrastructure that might be found in a war zone, such as an aircraft carrier. demolished, searchable ‘rubble buildings’, an underground garage and a wrecked rail bike. WHY WERE THE SOLDIERS AWAY FROM THE BASE? The Muscatatuck center is part of a larger installation called Atterbury-Muscatatuck that covers 36,000 acres, including some lodging options, where soldiers typically stay for seven to 14 days, Lowry said. It is unclear whether the Dutch soldiers remained at the facility during any of their training. ___ Associated Press writer Tom Davies in Indianapolis contributed to this report. Arleigh Rodgers is a member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative corps. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places reporters in local newsrooms to report on undercover issues. Follow her on Twitter at

title: “Explanation Why Dutch Soldiers Were In The Indiana Camp Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-12” author: “Maryann Johnson”

Simi Poetsema, 26, was identified Monday as the soldier who died of his wounds in Saturday’s shooting outside a Hampton Inn where the men were staying. The other two soldiers have injuries that are not expected to be life-threatening, officials said. Police arrested an Indianapolis man Tuesday in connection with the shooting, but have not released additional information about the circumstances of the shooting. Before the shooting, which Indianapolis’ mayor said happened after a fight at a local bar, the men’s business was about an hour southeast — at the Muscatatuck Urban Education Center. WHY TRAIN IN INDIANA? Foreign soldiers often go to United States military facilities that replicate the “unpredictable realism” of battlefield situations within an environment that a soldier would encounter. In Muscatatuck – where the three members of the Dutch Commando Corps involved in the shooting were training – “everything in the town and surrounding property, including people, is ‘playable,’” its website says. It is a 1,000-acre (405 ha) complex that trumpets hyper-focused education in land, air, water, technology and space. The number of international soldiers who train at the camp varies each year, Indiana National Guard spokesman Jeff Lowry said in a statement. Soldiers’ individual training depends on the unit’s needs, and in this case, the Dutch Ministry of Defense provided that direction, Lowry said. “The training they will do will revolve around civilian operations that could include a variety of training events from search and rescue to escape and capture,” Lowry said. Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a retired Marine, said Muscat is “essentially a small town” for combat training. U.S. allies with troops from countries without the capability for such facilities can learn in an environment that replicates the one they might fight in, he said. “The Europeans have things like that,” he said, but the U.S. facilities are “more complex, partly because we have more money and probably because we have more space and bigger forces.” WHAT EXACTLY IS IN MUSCATATUK? The Muscatatuck complex has been a state-run center for the developmentally disabled since the 1920s, housing more than 2,000 residents at one point before it was closed by the state. The Indiana National Guard then took over the site in 2005. Military officials saw the campus of more than 60 buildings, nine miles of roads and more than a mile of tunnels—in a rural setting isolated from nearby communities—as an ideal place to replicate an urban area for military training, including chemical or biological attacks. “Our primary intent is to simulate real-world urban scenarios through real and virtual training for first responders involved in counterterrorism operations,” said then-Indiana Guard Maj. Gen. Martin Umbarger in announcing the creation of the Muscatac center in 2004. The Indiana National Guard said in a statement that the center is used for training by the Department of Defense “as well as other allies.” These materials detail a training environment that mimics a city—with a five-story hospital, an oil refinery, a coal-fired steam plant, among many other features—as well as pieces of infrastructure that might be found in a war zone, such as an aircraft carrier. demolished, searchable ‘rubble buildings’, an underground garage and a wrecked rail bike. WHY WERE THE SOLDIERS AWAY FROM THE BASE? The Muscatatuck center is part of a larger installation called Atterbury-Muscatatuck that covers 36,000 acres, including some lodging options, where soldiers typically stay for seven to 14 days, Lowry said. It is unclear whether the Dutch soldiers remained at the facility during any of their training. ___ Associated Press writer Tom Davies in Indianapolis contributed to this report. Arleigh Rodgers is a member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative corps. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places reporters in local newsrooms to report on undercover issues. Follow her on Twitter at

title: “Explanation Why Dutch Soldiers Were In The Indiana Camp Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-26” author: “Alberta Molinaro”

Simi Poetsema, 26, was identified Monday as the soldier who died of his wounds in Saturday’s shooting outside a Hampton Inn where the men were staying. The other two soldiers have injuries that are not expected to be life-threatening, officials said. Police arrested an Indianapolis man Tuesday in connection with the shooting, but have not released additional information about the circumstances of the shooting. Before the shooting, which Indianapolis’ mayor said happened after a fight at a local bar, the men’s business was about an hour southeast — at the Muscatatuck Urban Education Center. WHY TRAIN IN INDIANA? Foreign soldiers often go to United States military facilities that replicate the “unpredictable realism” of battlefield situations within an environment that a soldier would encounter. In Muscatatuck – where the three members of the Dutch Commando Corps involved in the shooting were training – “everything in the town and surrounding property, including people, is ‘playable,’” its website says. It is a 1,000-acre (405 ha) complex that trumpets hyper-focused education in land, air, water, technology and space. The number of international soldiers who train at the camp varies each year, Indiana National Guard spokesman Jeff Lowry said in a statement. Soldiers’ individual training depends on the unit’s needs, and in this case, the Dutch Ministry of Defense provided that direction, Lowry said. “The training they will do will revolve around civilian operations that could include a variety of training events from search and rescue to escape and capture,” Lowry said. Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a retired Marine, said Muscat is “essentially a small town” for combat training. U.S. allies with troops from countries without the capability for such facilities can learn in an environment that replicates the one they might fight in, he said. “The Europeans have things like that,” he said, but the U.S. facilities are “more complex, partly because we have more money and probably because we have more space and bigger forces.” WHAT EXACTLY IS IN MUSCATATUK? The Muscatatuck complex has been a state-run center for the developmentally disabled since the 1920s, housing more than 2,000 residents at one point before it was closed by the state. The Indiana National Guard then took over the site in 2005. Military officials saw the campus of more than 60 buildings, nine miles of roads and more than a mile of tunnels—in a rural setting isolated from nearby communities—as an ideal place to replicate an urban area for military training, including chemical or biological attacks. “Our primary intent is to simulate real-world urban scenarios through real and virtual training for first responders involved in counterterrorism operations,” said then-Indiana Guard Maj. Gen. Martin Umbarger in announcing the creation of the Muscatac center in 2004. The Indiana National Guard said in a statement that the center is used for training by the Department of Defense “as well as other allies.” These materials detail a training environment that mimics a city—with a five-story hospital, an oil refinery, a coal-fired steam plant, among many other features—as well as pieces of infrastructure that might be found in a war zone, such as an aircraft carrier. demolished, searchable ‘rubble buildings’, an underground garage and a wrecked rail bike. WHY WERE THE SOLDIERS AWAY FROM THE BASE? The Muscatatuck center is part of a larger installation called Atterbury-Muscatatuck that covers 36,000 acres, including some lodging options, where soldiers typically stay for seven to 14 days, Lowry said. It is unclear whether the Dutch soldiers remained at the facility during any of their training. ___ Associated Press writer Tom Davies in Indianapolis contributed to this report. Arleigh Rodgers is a member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative corps. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places reporters in local newsrooms to report on undercover issues. Follow her on Twitter at