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thedrifter
06-11-09, 06:53 AM
Pre-deployment training made "real" through virtual combat

6/10/2009 By Lance Cpl. Lucas G. Lowe , Marine Corps Base Quantico
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. —

A humvee full of Marines is driving through an urban desert, the infrastructure of a modern city, complete with superhighways and commercial buildings, set against the backdrop of a harsh and unforgiving desert landscape. The convoy passes by a large crowd of indigenous citizens clustered around a marketplace. All of the sudden, a Marine in the humvee shouts: “Contact right!”

An unknown enemy opens fire on the Marines from a concealed position within the group at the marketplace.
This is Iraq. This is combat. This is a simulation.

Virtual Combat Convoy Training has made it possible for Marines to conduct pre-deployment training in a controlled virtual environment where everything from the vehicles they will operate while on deployment to the weapons they will fire is perfectly replicated.

The basic VCCT unit consists of a modular trailer containing four octagonal rooms. A humvee replica sits inside each room, and a computer-generated scene is projected onto the walls around the
Marines inside the humvee for a 360-degree view.

The Marine Corps owns eight VCCT simulators, costing $1.5 million each. Four are operated at Camp Upshur; the other four are located in Twentynine Palms, Calif.

“Anything you can do in a real combat environment, we can do with the simulator,” said Staff Sgt. LaBrian Parker, the VCCT training chief.

The Army began research and development for the VCCT in 2005. The Marine Corps quickly caught on to this more efficient way to train, and improved on it by adding more weapons and equipment such as armored turrets and actual humvees straight from the factory.

When Marines first hear about the VCCT, their initial reactions are to dismiss it as a knock-off of Indoor Simulated Marksmanship Training, said Parker.

“This isn’t the ISMT,” denied Parker. “It’s far more advanced.”

Marines can utilize the VCCT to reduce the number of casualties suffered during more conventional pre-deployment training.

A unit must go through several channels before it can train for convoys on base roads. The unit must contact range control to ensure the roads they will be training on will be closed the day of training. Additionally, it must procure the vehicles and the personnel needed to conduct training.

With the VCCT, Marines can train, get finished and go home without risking any of the injuries or malfunctions that would have been possible otherwise, said Parker.

The VCCT equips Marines for combat in a different way than most methods. It reveals which Marines can maintain mental alertness after riding through the desert in a humvee for hours on end and which Marines are incompetent.
“It’s a reality check,” said Parker. “I’ve seen officers and staff noncommissioned officers walk out of a trailer shaking their heads, and they’re asking themselves, ‘What are we going to do?’”

“I think the training worked out pretty well for my Marines,” said Cpl. Brad Buschman, a team leader with Task Force East. “We haven’t been able to train for convoys, since it’s so hard to get the vehicles we need to do the training.”
TFE is taking advantage of virtual combat simulation in preparation for their upcoming deployment.

“My Marines are better prepared for combat than they would have been,” said Buschman.

The VCCT has introduced an element of realism that previous pre-deployment training seemed to be missing. As a result, Marines are going to war with more confidence.

The Reserve Support in Quantico is poised to receive four more VCCT units within the next year.

Correspondent: lucas.lowe@usmc.mil

Ellie