MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Pfc. James H. McCain never thought a video game could help prepare him for the eminent danger he will face in Iraq.
That was before his trip to Camp Pendleton’s Battle Simulation Center.
“It opened my eyes to a lot of things that I had not been familiar with,” said McCain, 18, of Phoenix. McCain and other riflemen with Company A, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, paused their pre-deployment field training recently to try out the Virtual Battle System at the BSC.
The dirty Marines didn’t mind sitting down behind a computer and flat screen monitors for a couple hours. The interactive training tool is designed to help them train for the battlefield in a controlled environment.
That comes in handy because Marines can execute the virtual mission, then debrief and apply corrections to the next mission all within one hour, explained Cpl. Todd M. Martin, 23, a BSC noncommissioned officer-in-charge and a light armored vehicle crewman from Krum, Texas.
In a field environment, Marines would have spent up wards of five hours performing the same tasks.
In addition, Marines can practice billets above theirs so when the time comes, they will already be leaders.
“That’s the most important thing,” said Lance Cpl. William M. Dasch, 21, a squad leader from Colonial Heights, Va. “If we don’t have leadership, everything is going to fall apart.”
Marines said it doesn’t hurt that the simulation has good graphics either.
“I’ve even seen camels walking around," said Dasch, who has deployed to Iraq before. “They need a little more trash out there though.”
His fellow war veterans agreed.
“It’s more realistic than any other video game,” said Lance Cpl. Tyler J. Emrich, 19, a machine gunner from Jefferson City, Mo. “Graphics aren’t everything, but it’s got good tactics involved with it.”
Good tactics are also displayed by the opposing force, who are controlled by human console operators in a separate room. The console operators are Marines who have had their fair share of combat action in Iraq. However, many of the Marines who come here have not.
Emrich said it shows the younger Marines how the bad guys operate. One console operator knows all too well how important understanding the enemy is. He found out the hard way when he was deployed to Ramadi, Iraq, as a rifleman in support of 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Aug. 29, 2005.
“I heard a gunshot, and that’s when I collapsed,” said Lance Cpl. Landon A. Woods, 23, who is from Jasper, Mo. “It was hot as hell. I remember running across the street and didn’t realize what happened until my left leg went numb.”
Woods crawled across the street, where other Marines assessed his wounds in an Iraqi store to make sure he wasn’t paralyzed.
Woods said he thinks real-life scenarios such as these teach Marines the decision-making skills they need to survive while on deployment.
“If they can take an experience from here, from people that have been there, they can keep innocent people from getting killed,” Woods said.
Since last year, the BSC has had more than 1,300 Marines go through their courses.
For more information on the Virtual Battle System or other interactive training tools, contact the BSC at (760) 725-2425.