I've done combat training in one (a 3-story aluminum sided building furnished like a large office) and they had rigged the whole building with an interactive surround sound system. Once the course started and we got up to the building, I thought I heard music coming from inside. We opened the door and Metallica was blasting at 120db and none of us could hear each other. We had to communicate using signals while navigating the course with fake hostages and combatants etc. all while Master of Puppets was assaulting my ears. You couldn't escape it either, we were being sound-gunned on every floor and every room.
Anyway, just thought I'd share since Sound is something people forget when imagining training in these buildings and the experience was invaluable.
This is extremely unsafe and seems like grounds for a lawsuit, if it were reasonably possible to do this. For reference only 7.5 minutes per day at 120db will cause permanent hearing loss. Disgusting that they made you do this.
I'll be honest, 120db was an exaggeration because it was VERY loud, I would not have had a way to measure it in combat gear. Additionally, earplugs are part of a military uniform at a lot of bases so you are required to carry them and the onus would be on you. At that point in time, I was not required to have hearing protection however.
You're not a civilian while enlisted, suing for any reason is not an option in most cases. It's more likely you would file to collect disability in the event of hearing damage after you get out.
Hearing damage should be on the easier to show side; I'm sure they screened your hearing during enlistment, so if your hearing tests as damaged when you're discharged, there you go. Confirming a connection to service if you don't test near discharge might be harder.
You might be surprised... a friend of mine spent 18 months in a tank with a cannon next to his head and has almost total loss in one ear and much lower function in the other... he's had trouble getting VA to pay for hearing aids.
I'm sorry to hear that; I would have expected it to be much easier than some of the stories I've heard about getting coverage for Agent Orange exposure from family and others.
Is it not typical for the military to have hearing protection? My highschool gun club had earmuffs with active noise suppression that would dampen sound above a certain DB level.
this is so grotesque to read. Imagine a fake all-American town constructed in China, and someone commenting "This is not only good for reducing infantry casualties but also reducing civilian casualties."
The PRC did exactly that to train troops for Taiwan. There's a replica town, a replica of the presidential building, replica airbases, and even a weird pseudo-Eiffel tower [0].
I'm sure they do. To be clear, MOUT towns for infantry training existed before GWOT time. Shugart Gordon in LA is a good example of a more western looking town (link below). I spent a lot of time there back in my Infantry days.
What's wrong with that? If America was for some reason invaded by Chinese infantry, I would certainly prefer that the soldiers were properly trained to avoid civilian casualties.
I'd imagine America would be the last place China would invade, so I would be surprised if they'd bother. The closest (western) scenario I could see them training for is Australia.
I thought Australia would surely be in NATO and that would deter China from doing that but after looking it up, it looks like NATO and Australia merely have "deepened relationships" (according to an article from last year), whatever that means. Today I learned!
Reason: even in 2023, the logistics of invading a very large country of 350ish million across the Pacific are daunting, to put it mildly. “Impossible” is barely an overstatement.
I would also be surprised if they bother to train for an invasion of North America.
Once the panic response sets in, it is likely that they will fire on anything without fully assessing.
Training in similar environments can help soldiers avoid a panicked response and more logically assess the situation.