(Editor’s Note: This article comes courtesy of Christopher Buttner, a writer in the pro A/V industry. We very much appreciate his contribution.)

The Zussman Urban Combat Training Center, which opened in May 2000, currently provides the most realistic and complex military training in the U.S. Quality professional audio and video systems and equipment, as well as custom software control applications, aid in this mission.

The 26-acre facility, located in Kentucky about 30 miles south of Louisville, is expressly designed to offer crucial special operations and combined force training in situations such as urban unrest, operations other than war (such as peace keeping missions and hostage recovery), and “mid-intensity” combat.

Zussman provides a realistic environment for military and special ops training.

In light of President George W. Bush’s declared “war on terrorism”, the center is expected to play an increasingly important role, readying U.S. Special Forces in combat techniques and scenarios for anti-terrorism missions. (The FBI, CIA, and various other military, law enforcement agencies and police also use Zussman as a training site.)

The Layout

A deployed-force-in-training at the Zussman facility experiences the total impact of a broad spectrum of urban environments. The city’s 21 structures (intact as well as battle-impacted), are designed and constructed to resemble facilities found in many urban areas. Structures includes air traffic support facilities, an industrial area, a business area, municipal buildings - including a three-story embassy - a residential area complete with a modern two-story school, and a complex system of roadways replete with an array of several hundred tons of "combat debris."

A portion of the facility in “battle mode”.

The site also includes a mixture of ‘urban support’ facilities, including recreational sites such as a subway entrance, a soccer field - large enough to land a helicopter - an open air market, as well as electrical, water, and sewer. Buildings are augmented with facades and are color-coded. Furniture installed in the buildings will “trip up” the unwary and hide friends and/or foes and targets.

To support a realistic environment, a battery of special effects may be employed, including; a Class 100 bridge that can blow-up and burn, five “burn-on-command buildings”, “on-command” moving and burning cars, “on-command” interior and exterior non-toxic smoke, color and sound “confusion” effects, collapsing and exploding telephone poles with “dancing” electrical lines, a gas station which explodes to cause a “river of fire” to cross a primary road, wide area and specific point sound effects, and more. Even the underground sewer system is as realistic as possible, filled with varying depths of “dirty water”.