Rocky C
07-26-10, 03:25 PM
By Kevin Maurer - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jul 26, 2010 13:21:10 EDT
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WILMINGTON, N.C. — A North Carolina Marine base is building an indoor training complex to simulate the “fog of war” of Afghan combat, a project designed to reduce mental health problems by better preparing Marines for battle stress.
Camp Lejeune project officer Will Smith says the infantry immersion trainer is scheduled to open in February. Construction started earlier this month on the warehouse-sized range that combines live and virtual training in a mock Afghan village with the sounds and smells of war.
The Lejeune trainer resembles a similar installation in a 30,000-square-foot former tomato-packing warehouse near Camp Pendleton, Calif. The Corps also has one at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., and will eventually have trainers in Hawaii and Okinawa, Smith said.
The Marine Corps has the highest suicide rate in the armed services and has made huge additions to its mental health care departments to keep up with a skyrocketing number of troops seeking help. Assistant Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos, nominee to become commandant, says the trainer will give Marines the tools to cope with combat stress.
“Realistic training prepares our deploying Marines by simulating as closely as possible the sights, sounds, smells, and sensations of combat,” Amos told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on suicide, traumatic brain injuries and post traumatic stress in June.
The trainer will be located in an industrial area of the base. The Marines will leave from a nearby mock forward operating base and patrol all the way to the trainer. The inside of the trainer will resemble an Afghan village with a rocky landscape and a ditch that resembles a brook. It will be populated by role players and life-sized images projected on walls.
Marines will hear deafening explosions and smell meat cooking in the market or gunpowder after a fire fight, Smith said.
“The stress level is going to be very high. The sights, sounds and smells are going to create the fog of war,” Smith said.
After the exercise, the squad can analyze the fight. The trainer will have hundreds of cameras so each Marine will be able to watch what he did. The goal, Smith said, is to make sure the Marines learn from their mistakes.
“We can capture the actions of everyone from the squad leader to the rifle man,” Smith said. “We want to build on mistakes so that he comes back walking home and not in a body bag.”
Posted : Monday Jul 26, 2010 13:21:10 EDT
<FORM id=hidden></FORM>
WILMINGTON, N.C. — A North Carolina Marine base is building an indoor training complex to simulate the “fog of war” of Afghan combat, a project designed to reduce mental health problems by better preparing Marines for battle stress.
Camp Lejeune project officer Will Smith says the infantry immersion trainer is scheduled to open in February. Construction started earlier this month on the warehouse-sized range that combines live and virtual training in a mock Afghan village with the sounds and smells of war.
The Lejeune trainer resembles a similar installation in a 30,000-square-foot former tomato-packing warehouse near Camp Pendleton, Calif. The Corps also has one at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., and will eventually have trainers in Hawaii and Okinawa, Smith said.
The Marine Corps has the highest suicide rate in the armed services and has made huge additions to its mental health care departments to keep up with a skyrocketing number of troops seeking help. Assistant Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos, nominee to become commandant, says the trainer will give Marines the tools to cope with combat stress.
“Realistic training prepares our deploying Marines by simulating as closely as possible the sights, sounds, smells, and sensations of combat,” Amos told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on suicide, traumatic brain injuries and post traumatic stress in June.
The trainer will be located in an industrial area of the base. The Marines will leave from a nearby mock forward operating base and patrol all the way to the trainer. The inside of the trainer will resemble an Afghan village with a rocky landscape and a ditch that resembles a brook. It will be populated by role players and life-sized images projected on walls.
Marines will hear deafening explosions and smell meat cooking in the market or gunpowder after a fire fight, Smith said.
“The stress level is going to be very high. The sights, sounds and smells are going to create the fog of war,” Smith said.
After the exercise, the squad can analyze the fight. The trainer will have hundreds of cameras so each Marine will be able to watch what he did. The goal, Smith said, is to make sure the Marines learn from their mistakes.
“We can capture the actions of everyone from the squad leader to the rifle man,” Smith said. “We want to build on mistakes so that he comes back walking home and not in a body bag.”