Military Operations on Urbanized Terrain (MOUT) Training Systems-O’ahu, Hawaii

The MOUT project at The Marine Corps Training Area Bellows near Waimanalo, Hawaii is one of the most unique projects DesignCast has completed. This project was completed in the summer of 2011.

MOUT training systems allow Marines to practice deployment and maneuvers in an urban setting. This realistic urban environment includes streets, houses, industrial zones, a school, a mosque and utilities where Marine units master the challenges of urban navigation, movement, target acquisition and engagement, and cross-boundary coordination.

The MOUT complex recreates the sights, sounds and smells of an Afghan village.  After construction, smell generators have been installed. This allows one area to generate a smell that is similar to an agricultural environment, one that generates the smell of cooking, and one that generates the smell of trash, for example.  Projected “avatars” of virtual civilians and enemy fighters are projected on walls. There are also role-playing residents and pyrotechnics that simulate roadside bombs.

The Bellows MOUT station utilizes shipping containers and precast concrete walls to create 74 separate buildings. They create a modular component system. The precast panels are tied together with bolted connections to allow the structures to be unassembled and reassembled within the MOUT site. For example, the first configuration is of an afghan village, but the buildings can be reconfigured later to suit any change in mission.