SAN DIEGO -- Arabic music echoes through the narrow trash-strewn
streets of a mock Iraqi village on a sunny afternoon. Saddam loyalist
posters and raggedy clothes for sale are posted on shacks built on
dirt-paved roads plagued with donkey droppings and broken glass. A mock
Iraqi family stands
outside their home shouting anti-America slogans while Marines patrol the
area.
A bomb explodes and sends fragments in every direction and for a brief
moment the Marines seem paralyzed by the shock. What do they do next?
Marines from 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines, from Chicago, participated in
military operations in urban terrain July 27-28 to prepare for their
upcoming deployment to Iraq. The training placed the Reservists in a
simulated Iraqi town inside Strategic Operations, a training site located on
the 11-acre lot of Stu Segall Productions, San Diego's only TV and movie
studio.
"Strategic Operations is a training facility that prides itself for being
different than any other facility," said Stu Segall, owner. "We use the
magic of Hollywood to simulate a real-world training environment for
tomorrow's threat. We combine movie-making techniques with the realism for
training needs."
Sergeant Jonathon Welms, squad leader, 1st squad, 1st Platoon, 2nd
Battalion, 24th Marines, said the facility sets itself apart from the
training sites Marines used prior to their recent deployments. March Air
Reserve Base, old Marine Palms housing, and the MOUT facility located at
Camp Pendleton, Calif., don't compare to Strategic Operations' lot.
The 12,000 square foot tactical training area includes a drug lab, school
house, bomb lab, alley and adjacent MOUT facility. Some rooms are equipped
with interchangeable floor plans to provide variety in the training
scenarios. The lot is specifically designed for law enforcement and military
training and is not open to the public.
The shoot house, also called the "kill house," is another feature the
facility offers. The "kill house" is a simulated residence fully furnished
complete with front yard and security door used for repeated breeches. The
home is equipped with furniture, operating lights and real-life surroundings
like the laundry on the floor and the dirty dishes in the kitchen sink. The
rooms offer overhead viewing catwalks and are available in each scenario.
There is also a bomb lab with a complete display of interactive simulated
improvised explosive devices.
"We've installed doors that open the wrong way to trap the Marines when they
storm a building," said Segall.
The highlight of the lot is the MOUT facility. |
The facility sits on a four-acre lot. Both the exterior and interiors of
these moveable buildings can be easily changed to simulate urban areas in
various parts of the world.
"We tried to simulate an Iraq
village exactly how it is, from the items they sell on the streets to the
animals that are loose and running around in the streets," said Segall. "We
provide role players to add to the experience forcing the Marines to react
to every little thing they do. All personnel in the unit are free to
participate in the training evolution instead of being role players."
Strategic Operations also provides professional wound artists that create
grotesque and convincing wounds.
"We had Marines who lost limbs in the war come help us," said Segall. "They
would go out on patrol with their squad, a bomb would explode, and we'd
pretend they lost a leg. The rest of the Marines had to learn how to quickly
react to the gushing blood and screams, but at the same time they had to be
constantly aware of what was going on around them."
Segal and his team aimed to re-create the fog of war whether it was sound,
smell, smoke or explosions from the rocket-propelled grenade to the Arabic
writing on the wall.
"When a squad is out on patrol and an improvised explosive device explodes
in front of a Marine, the rest of his Marines experience a shock," said
Segall. "Here we train them to quickly react and automatically think of what
they must do next. When it's all done it takes around two minutes to set up
again."
"This is more realistic than March Air Reserve Base," said Sgt. Jonathon
Welms, a Chicago, native. "Despite the narrow space, this setup is more
productive than any training we've received. I'd rather do this since it is
real-world training that is more believable. Having rounds come back at us
compared to the cinderblock MOUT facility at Camp Pendleton makes it more
real. We're going to be new combat-efficient leaders. The simulations build
the privates first class to be better leaders so they are not afraid to
stand up and take charge."
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