Combat training

A Dirty Little Secret: The U.S. Army 'Invented' 5 Fake Countries

It goes without saying that combat training should be as realistic as possible. But realism has its downside. The U.S. Army, for one, wants to be able to prepare to for war against particular countries without announcing to the whole world what it’s doing.

Thus, the American ground-combat branch invents fictional countries as stand-ins for very real potential enemies.

As of April 2015, the Army had constructed five different made-up states — complete with elaborate back-stories — for its soldiers to defend, invade, occupy and rebuild during high-intensity war games at U.S. training ranges.

The fictional countries of Ariana, Atropia, Donovia, Gorgas and Limaria are clustered in a fictional Caucasian landscape that stretches between the real-world borders of Russia and Iran. Together, the five states comprise the so-called “Decisive Action Training Environment,” or DATE.