Army Unveils New, Ultra-Real Simulation

[Rose Siding]

FORT SILL, Okla. Dec 20, 2004 — It's a sweltering 90 degrees and soldiers Kevin Messmer and Kroften Owen are hunched in a rubble-strewn apartment. Peering from a window to avoid sniper fire, they see a bustling Iraqi city.

Binoculars pressed to his face, Messmer surveys the view and finds what he's looking for just across the river, an insurgent stronghold near a mosque's towering minarets. He whispers coordinates to Owen, who in turns calls them into a radio.

A crackling streak of artillery fire arrives seconds later, shaking the room as the bomb annihilates the target in a thunderous cloud of thick, black smoke.
The mission is a success. Except the mission doesn't really exist.
...
Since the center went live in September, more than 300 officers have trained at the compound, whose evolution is key to a larger Defense Department strategy to give future members of all military branches the ability to better synchronize artillery, air support and other weaponry on the battlefield.
...
The Army saves money on live-fire training, and also economizes by tapping outside expertise instead of developing everything internally.
Traditional outdoor exercises are still part of the training, but they often don't convey the chaotic, complex nature of battles as well, said Col. Gary S. Kinne, JFETS director at Fort Sill.

Back at the urban-training stage, Rick Bleau directs the action from a control room hidden behind a sliding door.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=345387

[benburch]

1. If it were realistic...

You'd not have enough bullets or armor, your platoon would be full of 40 year old guys with bellies, your humvee would break down, and you'd come under fire from insurgents who are indistinguishable from the local residents, whom you would kill in great numbers.

[saigon68]

2. a control room hidden behind a sliding door.

PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN.

Children playing with toys.

[leftchick]

3. can they smell rotting flesh?

and watch dogs scavenge on human remains bloated from days in the sun?
Then it isn't "ultra-real". :eyes: