MARIETTA, Ga. -- On Friday, Dale Earnhardt Jr. got an inside look at how the troops train in the Military Intelligence division at the General Lucius D. Clay National Guard Center at Dobbins Air Force Base -- and found himself quite surprised with what he learned.

Most people's impressions of fighting a military battle have come from a favorite war movie or the television show M*A*S*H. Not only are battles much more technologically fought now than a few decades ago, but the reliance on intelligence and the high-tech tools that the National Guard employs to gather it were nearly non-existent in, say, the World War II era. And troops fight these battles at home long before employing them elsewhere. Officers in training in the Military Intelligence division meet with high-ranking instructors in a tightly-secured row of classrooms and boardrooms.

"You think you kind of know the basics of the military, but there are a lot of little important jobs and things that go on."

--DALE EARNHARDT JR.

Earnhardt Jr.'s first task after arriving to the National Guard Center and receiving a formal introduction from Major General William T. Nesbitt, the head of the Georgia National Guard, was to listen to how the Guard gathers, analyzes and implements intelligence. Guard members are trained how to intercept and listen to enemies' transmissions, use satellite imaging to view enemy territory, and learn counter-intelligence -- the art of protecting U.S. troops from enemy attacks.

After the intelligence presentation, officers showed Earnhardt Jr. a National Guard recruiting video, which focused on the high-tech gizmos and intricate networks that troops direct in the battlefield after their initial training. According to officers at the Guard Center, troops come from all over the country to train at this facility and prepare for deployment. Earnhardt Jr. was impressed with the process and related the Guard's art of communication to being a successful NASCAR driver.

"Communication is important," Earnhardt Jr. said. "You've got to talk to your crew chief and keep your head on straight while doing it. You have to give him the most information you can, so he can make the right choices."

After seeing the intelligence classrooms, officers introduced Earnhardt Jr. to a state-of-the-art language training building. There, instructors use native speakers of languages to train troops before they head overseas. One officer handed Earnhardt Jr. a small book and a CD, saying that they used to simply send pupils off with those two tools and tell them, "Good luck." As the focus on the battlefield has changed, so has the preparation for it.

"I was assuming that they had translators and [the soldiers] did their best in the field," Earnhardt said. "But they're now full-on training them on how to really speak and how to not offend the culture."

The game has changed for the Armed Forces in language training (each troop has to have 100 hours of classroom language training before going in the field) even more than it has for setting up a race car in the NASCAR garage and Earnhardt Jr. has now had a front seat for both.

At the end of his visit, Earnhardt Jr. and several M.I. members unveiled the Military Intelligence paint scheme that the No. 88 will carry this weekend. Then Earnhardt autographed items, shook hands, and chatted with 30-40 troops and emergency workers on the base. While some are full-time National Guard employees, many are only required to work one weekend per month, two weeks per summer, and through any emergency deployment either at home or abroad. So, Earnhardt Jr.'s visit was a welcome break in the action.

Captain Roger Roberts, a southeast aircraft flyover coordinator for the national anthems at NASCAR races and an Earnhardt Jr. fan since when Earnhardt's father was alive, summed up Earnhardt Jr.'s visit best.

"What he's doing is great for the Guard and gives a lot of morale and support to the troops," he said. "It's good that the Guard sponsors and gets our name out."

And Earnhardt Jr. took more than his share away from his mid-afternoon matinee with the National Guard.

"You think you kind of know the basics of the military, but there are a lot of little important jobs and things that go on," he said.

With that, he left Dobbins Air Force Base with a shower of cheers in favor of the No. 88 team's mission this weekend -- one that happens to coincide with the Military Intelligence division's slogan and is emblazoned on the race car's hood -- "Always Out Front."