Defense secretary visits Fort Leonard Wood

Associated Press WriterFORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (AP) -- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld praised the troops and was tested on a driving simulation during a visit Tuesday to Fort Leonard Wood.

In his first visit to the fort in the Ozarks, Rumsfeld scored 88 out of a possible 100 points on a driving simulation used to train military truck drivers. The simulation took Rumsfeld through mountainous regions and forests similar to those of Afghanistan and Iraq.

During a later speech to about 200 drill-sergeants-in-training, Rumsfeld said his grade on the simulator wasn't good enough.

"You wouldn't want on your gravestone, 'He was adequate,"' Rumsfeld said.

Rumsfeld also saw examples of joint training between the military services at Fort Leonard Wood, where all of the service branches train for an array of duties.

Rumsfeld said the training was "shaping these young people to be warriors" because even truck drivers must be prepared for battle.

There are "no front lines, no rear areas, and we've certainly seen that in Iraq," he said.

When Rumsfeld asked how many of the 200 people in the audience had been to Iraq or Afghanistan, nearly everyone raised their hand.