Camp Lejeune opens new Outdoor Infantry Immersion Trainer

ByLanceCpl JorgeBorjas

Marine Corps Installations East

On a hot and bright afternoon, U.S. Marines and NATO allies move quietly throughanoccupiedtown Thistownisfull of small shops with people walking in and out.AstheMarinesandtheiralliestraverse slowly through the city center, the townspeopleconverseandlaughwitheachother, most of them paying no mind to the armed men in uniform. A shop owner dumps a pot of coffee out of her back window while watchingaMarineslowlypeekbetweentwo buildings The smell of old coffee diffuses through the wind as gunfire suddenly erupts from the rifles of the Marines and their allies, aimed toward armed hostiles stepping out from behind closed doors and vehicles Shouting comes from both sides, and the sounds of panicked screams from the townspeople and thudding footsteps of people running away are drowned out by the gunfire. Gunpowder fills the air while the Marines and friendly forces engage the armed combatants But this scenario isn’t real; it’s just a simulated training exercise at Camp Lejeune’s new Outdoor Infantry Immersion Trainer, or O-IIT, which is now openfortrainingoperations

This facility is the first O-IIT on Marine Corps Base (MCB) Camp Lejeune and the only O-IIT on the East Coast. On May 18 2023, MCB Camp Lejeune’s O-IIT conducted its first training exercise, a joint-training event conducted by U.S. MarinesandNATOallies.

“I’dsayitgivesauniqueexperience especially with MOUT (Military Operations in Urban Terrain) training Yes, we have the indoorfacilityaswell,butthisoutdoorfacility is a lot larger in scale,” said U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Michael McLaughlin, a firepowerpatrolteamleaderwith2ndAirNaval GunfireLiaisonCompany(ANGLICO)after conductingatrainingexerciseontheO-IIT “Ithinkthismaybetheclosestthingyoucan tosimulatetheactualfogofwar.”

The first phase of the training scenario started with role-players working in shops, speaking to each other and laughing togetheruntiltheyheardasimulatedexplosion through the facility’s speakers The role-players then went into a dramatized panic,withscreamsandcrieseruptingfrom inside the shops On one side, a role-player withamaskandbandanastartedfiringatthe Marines and foreign allies who were trying tocommunicatewiththepopulaceamidall thechaos.

“The role-players they bring in are actually from other countries and they may not even speak English, so you actually have to have an interpreter with you,” said McLaughlin Role-players are commonly used in the IndoorInfantryImmersionTrainer butnot at the same scale as now achievable by the

O-IIT

While the O-IIT shares similarities with theIndoorInfantryImmersionTrainer,one of the things that sets the O-IIT apart is its size which allows it to be used by platoonsizedelementsincomparisontotheindoor facility which can only hold squad-sized elements This also allows for units to conduct multiple training scenarios at one time, which diversifies the training and pushes it closer to the chaotic nature of a realcombatenvironment TheoutdoorfacilityisalsolocatednexttotheMOUTcomplex area on MCB Camp Lejeune, allowing it to be used as even larger MOUT operational scenariosbycompaniesandbattalions

Tim Seamon, operations officer, Marine Corps Installations East-MCB Camp LejeuneRangeandTrainingAreaManagement, explained that the O-IIT is a 13-acre site consisting of 80 buildings divided between three roads This training area includes an embassy area, mid-town area andalowerincome,‘slum’area.

ThedesignoftheO-IITrequiredthefacility designers to construct structures that could withstand coastal environments and endure the rigors of Marine training while also maintaining the ability to be reconfiguredandmodifiedinthefuture.Thedesigners used precast concrete, formed using a reusable mold, and cured in a controlled environment,toachievethisgoal.

The Precast/Prestressed Institute the technicalinstituteandtradeassociationfor theprecast,prestressedconcretestructures industry, awarded Camp Lejeune’s new O-IIT with the 2023 Best Military Buildingaward.

“We chose this project as the winner because we found it incredibly fascinating in the use of precast” said Vanessa Schutte, K-12 Central Region Section Leader, DLR Group “The training that happens by the Marines can be customized time and time againandmovedtodifferentfacilities.”

Units can customize the award-training compound to fulfill the needs of different training exercises By utilizing pyrotechnics, sound systems and scent systems, unitsenhancethetraining’simmersiveness, providingtheirMarineswithmorerealistic training.

TheOutdoorInfantryImmersionTrainer provides Marines with a unique training experience and the opportunity to conduct various specialized large-scale scenarios The facility’s immersive nature, customizability, and personnel support gives unit leaders more versatility on the exercises they can perform on MCB Camp Lejeune. It solidifies the base’s reputation as worldclass training facility and increases MCB Camp Lejeune’s Marines’ readiness to face ournation’sadversaries