Aiming at the roof

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.--The bullets are flying. Marines are shouting. The locals are running for cover. And it's chaos.

But for the Marines, the idea is to learn how to overcome the chaos, to think through it, and to perform, regardless of who is shooting at them, or what is in front of them.

This is the Infantry Immersion Trainer, a sophisticated system used at Camp Pendleton, the Marines' major West Coast base, to help prepare Marines for possible combat deployment.

According to an Office of Naval Research Web site, "The Infantry Immersion Trainer (IIT) is a revolutionary training system that prepares Marines and Sailors for deployment to today’s battlefields. The facility uses virtual reality to re-create foreign urban scenes -- right down to the sounds and smells -- to give troops the necessary skills to win and survive in battle overseas."

I've stopped in at Camp Pendleton as part of Road Trip 2012 to see the IIT up close -- even to the point of getting shot covering live training. In this photograph, a Marine aims his weapon at a sniper on the roof of an indoor building that has attacked suddenly.