Soldiers At Fort Dix Learn More About IEDs Using Computer-Generated Imagery
FORT DIX, N.J. (CBS) - On this day before the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the U.S. by Al-Qaeda, members of our nation's armed forces continue their deployment training at Fort Dix.
Soldiers there are learning how to identify and eliminate improvised explosive devices or IEDs, one of the greatest dangers they will face in combat.
A computer-generated simulator literally puts soldiers in a forward area by flashing scenarios involving IEDs or enemy attacks in a room with a screen on all four walls.
Those taking part in the exercise are in radio contact with their superiors in another room. Commander of the 174th Infantry Brigade Colonel Craig Osborne says the training is priceless.
"Prior to this, they received training on what proper procedures would be to respond to an IED. This actually allows them to put that together in a crew-served environment. A crew gets together and responds to IEDs as if they were finding them out in the operational environment," said Osborne.
These soldiers are also doing it all without the usual dangers and expenses attached to soldiers training in the field. And they are not holding a game controller; they literally sit in a fully-equipped humvee for the exercise, holding their weapons and firing when appropriate.
Osborne says what they learn now will save lives later.
Reported by Michelle Durham, KYW Newsradio
