Spc. Matt Edgeworth never has been to the Middle East.

But when the 22-year-old Tennessee National Guardsman deploys to Iraq for the first time later this summer, he’ll have a distinct sense of deja vu.

That’s because Spc. Edgeworth and fellow members of the Cleveland-based 252nd Military Police Company have been preparing for their yearlong tour on a rigorous training course that closely resembles the buildings, tunnel networks, caves and trap doors soldiers are finding today in urban areas of Iraq and Afghanistan.

“All the training we’ve done up to now has led us to this,” the young soldier said. “I’m ready to go.”

The Tennessee National Guard began building the training site in Catoosa County, Ga., about 18 months ago after realizing that the United States’ transition efforts in Iraq will require soldiers to acquire a complex and diverse skill set.

The “urban assault village” features a mock Forward Operating Base complete with guard towers as well as empty buildings littered with props such as old mattresses and appliances.

“I saw these in other places, and I thought we ought to have them here,” said Brigadier Gen. Terry “Max” Haston, the Tennessee Guard’s assistant adjutant general. “We need to put our soldiers into this environment here so that when they face these things (during deployment), it’s not the first time.”

U.S. combat troops are expected to withdraw from Iraqi cities by June 30, and the 252nd is set to deploy at the end of July to help fledgling police and military forces maintain control in the central part of the country.

Capt. Darrel Hull, unit commander for the 252nd, has been planning for his soldiers’ tour for the past year, busy ensuring that they have completed 267 different training requirements ranging from land navigation to weapon firing to cultural sensitivity.

Capt. Hull has been incorporating current intelligence into the training regime by staying in contact with the unit being replaced by his unit.

“We get periodic updates out of the theater and learn about the latest techniques,” he said.

Most of those techniques are used while practicing on the Catoosa County course, which Gen. Haston said he helped design based on his own experience deployed to the Middle East.

Though the complex is surrounded by lush, North Georgia forest rather than sandy, Middle Eastern desert, Gen. Haston said its design recreates the exact same kinds of tactical situations soldiers will face in Iraq.

Staff Photo by Tim Barber Tennessee National Guard Major General Gus Hargett Jr., left, sits alongside 252nd Military Police unit commander Capt. Darrel Hull during a Friday meeting at the Cleveland headquarters on Dalton Pike. Gen. Hargett made a surprise visit to give a pep talk to troops who are getting ready for deployment to Iraq.

Soldiers are tasked with searching and securing the area, unsure whether an actor dressed in traditional Middle Eastern clothing will pop out at them. Meanwhile, a rusty old car — an innocent-looking machine that can be deadly if packed with explosives — is parked out front.

The Guard maintains similar facilities in Tullahoma, Tenn., and outside Memphis. But the Catoosa County site is the only Tennessee National Guard installation to feature an underground bunker complex with 500-foot tunnels, according to Gen. Haston, so units from across both Tennessee and Georgia routinely practice there.

Officials used $100,000 from the Guard’s training budget to purchase materials to build the facility, relying on free labor from the soldiers themselves to construct it, according to Guard spokesman Randy Harris.

They have identified another $300,000 worth of upgrades they’d like to make as soon as funding is available, Mr. Harris said. Included in the upgrades are computers, security cameras and even a machine that can pump sounds and odors into the facility to prime soldiers’ senses for the war zone.

U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., said he made a $2.5 million request into the 2010 defense funding bill for the Guard’s urban assault training. The bill should come up for a vote within 30 days, he said.

Rep. Wamp said he feels it’s important to push for Guard and reserve training, which he said traditionally has been underfunded compared to active duty training programs.

“The Guard is taking on a role that is every bit active-duty military,” he said. “And yet it’s not funded on equipment, training and facilities as much as it should be compared to how much it contributes to combat readiness.”

The push for strong training is more important than ever, according to Maj. Gen. Gus Hargett Jr., Tennessee National Guard adjutant general.

During the transition from American to Iraqi leadership, he said, soldiers aren’t performing large-scale missions in cohesive units. Instead, they peel off in teams of three or four to assist Iraqis as needed, the general explained.

Soldiers in the 252nd are self-sufficient and ready, he said, bringing both civilian and military experience to the mix.

“These aren’t just a group of kids straight out of high school,” Gen. Hargett said. “We’ve got some really highly skilled young super troopers.”

Staff Sgt. Chris Linebarger, a 33-year-old Ringgold, Ga., resident, said the 252nd is ready for the job at hand.

“This sounds so cliché, but we’ve assembled a really great unit,” he said. “It feels like a family built for success.”