Rarely was parking been this bad.

Vehicles packed the parking spots in front of Fort Carson’s old commissary on Friday, leaving a long walk for any latecomers.

No one came to shop.

Past steel and concrete barriers barricading the entrance to this dilapidated building, beyond the former pharmacy now serving as security checkpoint, soldiers and civilians prepared for war.

The headquarters of the 4th Infantry Division embarked on a massive training exercise last week — eschewing the typical dust-filled, down-range training exercise in favor of a the hollowed-out supermarket.

Two-dozen civilians worked beneath a sign reading “Garden Fresh,” hatching training scenarios to hurl at about 700 soldiers with the division’s headquarters.

Marines, sailors and a few Australians filled the “Quality Meats” section, playing the “white cell” roll and acting out each scenario. A few feet away, civil affairs soldiers in the Dairy section acted as Fox News correspondents, while others played the role of New York Times reporters.

It all plays a part in the headquarters’ final test before deploying to Afghanistan later this year, where they will set up shop in Kandahar while helping to oversee Regional Command South.

“It’s critical training — it really tests us,” said Maj. Earl Brown, a post spokesman.

Each person in the supermarket played a part in challenging the division staff, located across the street in the division’s headquarters building.

In the headquarters, before massive video displays and dozens of desktop computers, Fort Carson soldiers answered phones, studied readouts and reacted to scenarios conjured up at the commissary.

The scenarios mimic real-world situations: Downed aircraft; soldiers abducted after an improvised explosive attack; a protest that began after a mullah felt disrespected.

The exercise is meant too stress out each soldier to a level far beyond what they’ll see in combat, said Lt. Col. Jeff Paine, overseeing current operations for the division.

He compared the division to a rubber band needing to be stretched.

“When it sits there, it looks fine,” Paine said. “When you stretch it, you see the cracks and the fatigue”

In all, about 3,000 people are taking part in the exercise, Brown said. About 1,600 of those people were flown in from across the country to act as role players.

While the scenarios aren’t new, the sight of an exercise staged in a supermarket is, Paine said. For instance, the last headquarters exercise in the Army — which tested leaders of 3rd Infantry Division — took place in Germany.

This one is at the division’s home station.

“They at least get to sleep in their own beds,” Paine said.

Brown said the commissary plan did not come in response to federal budget cuts called “sequestration”. Funding had already been allocated for this training before the cuts took effect.

Technicians with the division’s headquarters worked for a month to transform the supermarket into a sophisticated training arena for the two-week exercise.

Soldiers strung at least 13.25 miles of wire throughout the building.

It was nothing new for Lt. Col. Bill Pittman, the division’s chief information officer. He’s made a career out of turning hollowed-out buildings into high-tech hubs.

In Iraq, for instance, he turned one of Saddam Hussein’s palaces into the an Iraq counterterrorism headquarters.

“When you’re talking marble floors, it’s a fun time laying wire in that thing,” he said, grinning.

Pittman’s mission in Afghanistan will be different. Instead of setting up the Army’s infrastructure, he’ll be working to tear it down.

When the headquarters deploys this summer, they’ll be asked to help begin the drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

Half of the remaining 66,000 U.S. troops are expected to leave the country by the end of December. Combat operations are slated to end by the end of 2014.

It’s a similar mission to the one that the 4th Infantry Division’s headquarters performed in Iraq, where they were among the last units to leave in 2011.

“We’re now in the business of taking it all apart again,” Pittman said.

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