New training facilities force marines to experience the fog of war.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew
• Position: Training and Simulation

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C.--The Marine Corps platoon stepped out of the late morning North Carolina sun and into a dark warehouse.

Inside, 25 buildings typically found in a Southern Afghanistan village were laid out in a maze before them. Shops, homes, a school and a mosque were made from dull brown mud bricks.

The smell of burning cedar from wood burning stoves and the sounds of schoolchildren and clucking chickens greeted them as they cautiously stepped onto the dirt floor.

The platoon sergeant had walked into a hornet's nest, though. Afghan actors portraying village leaders were angrily voicing their displeasure with the intrusion.

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On the first run through the mock village earlier that morning, the sergeant had made several cultural missteps that had put the town in a bad mood. Now, the marines were suffering the consequences, and the faux-pas were preventing them from reaching the objective: the capture of two insurgents hiding in a home nearby.

The village was one of three Infantry Immersion Trainers that the Marine Corps integrated into its training regimen this year.

Maneuvering through mock villages is not a new concept, but the Marine Corps believes this system creates the most realistic setting those deploying overseas can experience in the United States. It combines real-life Afghan actors portraying villagers and insurgents, the most realistic recreation of an Afghan town possible, and computer-generated avatars and effects such as makeshift bombs.

In a typical exercise, platoons will experience all four elements in an effort to subject them to the so-called "fog of war."

"It incorporates the cultural piece, the intelligence piece and the tactical piece so these guys have to be thinking on their toes, all the time, as it happens," said Vince Soto, site lead for Innovative Reasoning LLC, the Orlando, Fla.-based vendor that runs the facilities.

"This is graduate level training," said Col. Daniel J. Lecce, Camp Lejeune commanding officer. The goal is to increase success and survivability on the battlefield, he said. By the end of a new marine's training, he has learned basic tactics, and has had cultural and language lessons.

This is where it all comes together.

One of the most important lessons they learn here is the reality of Murphy's Law. Things can and will go wrong.

Soto ensures that a walk through an Afghan village is never easy. He plays a behind-the-scenes role as the Taliban commander. He is both the...