A medic responds to mayhem after a simulated explosion seemingly destroys an Army Humvee inside the fabricated Iraqi village of Medina Wasl, built by set coordinators from Paramount Pictures at Fort Irwin, California, in the Mojave Desert, California. (From the book What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets.) Hundreds of military and civilian actors and scores of directors participate in elaborate training exercises for soldiers deploying to Iraq.