No matter how much gear they wear or how protected their Stryker combat vehicle, Iraq-bound soldiers must encounter the desert sand one way or the other — in their teeth, in their eyes and under their clothing.

The sky grew dark and the sand whipped up in the desert of Victorville Monday, as a helicopter hovered above a mock Iraqi village at the former George Air Force Base, conducting reconnaissance and sending radio messages to the soldiers on the ground.

A loud pop — deeper than the sound of a gun but not quite deafening — came from a pickup truck entering a checkpoint.

It commanded everyone’s attention, as the soldiers began running to secure the area.

“We need to make sure that our soldiers do not get complacent,” said Lt. Col. David Davidson, deputy commander of the brigade. “We try to lull them into a sense of security so they let their guard down.”

Some soldiers were told to fall to the ground because they had been hit by “shrapnel.”

“Villagers,” many of them Iraqi nationals, ran outside to decry the violence and mourn their dead.

“This terrain and environment is probably the most similar to the portion of Iraq I’ve been to,” said Staff Sgt. Christian Foster, who served in 2003 and 2004 in the Kurdish north. “It’s pretty sparse like it is here. No Joshua Trees, but you can’t be perfect.”

The mock village is actually the former barracks at George, where the city of Victorville has been welcoming troops since 1999.

Renamed Southern California Logistics Airport, the city is cultivating a new industrial park and rail hub slated for the base. But the military training also continues.

To date, this is the largest gathering of troops since the program began, said an airport spokeswoman. A total of 4,300 members of the 2nd Stryker Brigade, part of the 25th Infantry Division, are training in the Mojave Desert, alternating between the National Training Center at Fort Irwin and SCLA (which army types call “skee-la.”)

“It stretches out our communication links and gives us the ability to train with longer distances,” said Lt. Col. David Davidson, deputy commander of the brigade.

Strykers are a fairly new toy that the Army is using to transport infantry troops to where they need to fight. These types of troops used Humvees for the same purpose, but Humvees are not equipped with armor. Even when they are, they are not as safe as Strykers.

“They can take a good hit,” said Spec. Michael Malin.

They can also carry more people than a Bradley Fighting Vehicle, which carries a crew of three and a six-man squad. Strykers can carry a crew of two and nine soldiers, covering them after they dismount and begin urban fighting.

The 330 Strykers came by ship to the Port of Long Beach and were trucked to Victorville. Before the unit deploys to Iraq sometime in October, the Strykers will be equipped with armor in San Diego, said Col. Vi Strong, public affairs officer for the brigade.