"With the sounds and explosions we go back to muscle memory – hey what have I done before what’s worked before – and you start performing right there like you normally would," says Sgt. Dustin Broadwater, U.S. Marines.
The new Training Area at Bellows is modeled after a real Afghan village.
Speakers mounted around the area even blast background noises of barking dogs, music and children playing.
It’s all made up to give the Marines the look and feel of what they might encounter on the battlefield.
In this mission the Marines have to maneuver inside the compound and suppress enemy combatants.
Role players wearing traditional clothing and speaking the native languages of Pashto and Dari make the simulated scenario more life-like.
"When you can get training that’s as life-like as possible it’s easy for the individual unit leaders to forget sometimes they are in training," says Sgt. Broadwater.
"It’s designed by Marines who actually made deployments and is used by Marines and trains them for subsequent deployment," says Deputy Commander Marine Forces Pacific Ronald Baczkowski.
Three hundred and forty two high-tech cameras are also wired to capture every move of the mission giving squad leaders a way to replay and review how to improve the next time — helping to save lives when Marines face actual combat.
"That first month is the deadliest month in country, so that first month part of it can be erased if you did this type of training here. This will save lots of people’s lives," says Gunner James Law, U.S. Marines.
The new facility was part of a multi-million dollar upgrade to Marine Corps Training Area at Bellows.
The Army National Guard and Special Forces units are also in line to train here.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
