Marines to alter training site

The makeover will bring Bellows in line with a change in mission from Afghanistan to the Asian region

By William Cole

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Nov 12, 2012

~~<p>The mission to Afghanistan for Hawaii infantry Marines is gone, and so are the 50 to 85 Afghan role players who once populated a $42 million "infantry immersion trainer," a military version of a Hollywood set with fake buildings, markets, red poppies, barking dogs, "avatar" people projected on walls and 20 smell generators pumping out the aroma of everything from fresh-baked bread to decomposing bodies.</p>
<p>The Marines are changing with the times — especially in the Pacific with the military's "pivot" here — and so is the high-tech immersion trainer at Marine Corps Training Area Bellows.</p>
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The mission to Afghanistan for Hawaii infantry Marines is gone, and so are the 50 to 85 Afghan role players who once populated a $42 million "infantry immersion trainer," a military version of a Hollywood set with fake buildings, markets, red poppies, barking dogs, "avatar" people projected on walls and 20 smell generators pumping out the aroma of everything from fresh-baked bread to decomposing bodies.

The Marines are changing with the times — especially in the Pacific with the military's "pivot" here — and so is the high-tech immersion trainer at Marine Corps Training Area Bellows. Login for more...