METHODS
Range skills are important, but often agencies and the military do not get the stress training required to dominate a violent confrontation. The Urban Warfare Center® provided a three dimensional environment that reacted to your decision processes and real-time reactions to threats.
This method of training ingrains lessons learned like no other experience other than the real ones in the field. We wanted to teach these vital lessons before the risk levels were permanent.
Attacking the Five Physical Senses
1. SIGHT
The absence of or light in its extremes are used to overwhelm the sense of vision. The safety gear worn will often fog up, or when hit with paint become milky and unclear. This produces the desired results of confusion. Some people become totally incapacitated while others grab on to a partner and ask “what can I do to help”.2. SOUND
We use multiple channels of pure high definition sound. As you move from one location to another the sounds shift. Examples are babies crying, Mid East music, dog’s barking, with women screaming and of course the sounds of battle mingled with helicopters. These sounds make it hard to verbally communicate and require units to use hand signals or touch to get the job done.3. TASTE
This sense is combined with smell in that when they get shot or rocked by the simulators, they can taste the smell, the paint from the rounds and the dirt. All these combine to make life very uncomfortable for an unspecified period of time.4. TOUCH
Out of all the technologies around for shooting people in less than lethal ways, off the shelve paintball guns with modifications became our premier solution. .68 caliber rounds are large and filled with thick water based paint. When you get hit you know it, and when you shoot another person the big SPLAT, and often the flinch of the person being shot gives you positive feedback that you engaged and hit the target successfully. It is also a clear friendly fire indicator as we use unique colors for good guys and bad guys. The psychological effect of paintball technology is intense. We have fired hundreds of thousands of rounds, and there is nothing that matches its impact on the shooter or the victim. At a cost of a few cents per ball you can’t beat the economics of it either. We have since switched to a clear .68 caliber round as well as .68 caliber rubber balls and Airsoft weapons. VERY effective at confirming shots.5. SMELL
As specifically produced shotgun shells and simulators explode, the smell of powder, dirt, sweet and debris fill the air. Smell is one of the most powerful reminders of a stressful experience we have had, and we use it.Training at the Urban Warfare Center® set the standard for thousands of participants!
Opposing Force was a sub brand of the Elite Urban Warfare Center and the emblem that represented our Force-on-Force bad guys that taught many lessons to the participants. Often these guys and gals would get shot up a lot when doing their job correctly by stimulating stress in our active scenarios. The emblem is two Opposing F's back to back.