MARINE CORPS TRAINING AREA BELLOWS, Hawaii -- Marines with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, conducted building raids during a training evolution at Marine Corps Training Area Bellows, Aug. 18, in preparation for their upcoming deployment to Afghanistan.Three Marines, acting as enemy insurgents, strategically placed themselves in an abandoned building at the training site, and waited. Their fellow Marines came through the building in three waves.“We did our best to act like insurgents,” said Lance Cpl. Richard Rogers, forward observer, Alpha Company, 1/3. “While the platoons came through each time, we would stand out in the open and keep shooting at them, which was behavior we saw from the insurgents in Iraq.”Each of the three role players used a different tactic each time Marines came through. Rogers’ role was to keep shooting at the Marines until he was killed. His was a role that might not sound difficult, except for the fact that the Marines and role players were using simunition rounds — rounds that are similar to paintball rounds — to make the scenarios more realistic.“The most difficult thing to do was stand there and take the shots,” said the Cocoa Beach, Fla. native. “Sim-rounds can leave pretty big welts, depending on how close you are when they impact.”The other two Marines tasked to act as insurgents had similar roles to play during the training. One was told to play the same role as Rogers and keep attacking and shooting until he was killed. Another was supposed to give up once the Marines cornered him, and allow himself to be captured. With limited avenues of approach, the Marines raiding the building had the disadvantage against those acting as insurgents. But, the scenario made the training more realistic and similar to situations the Marines will face once deployed to Afghanistan.“This training proved that the Marines need a lot more experience clearing houses,” said 1st Lt. Jesse A. Wolfe, platoon commander, Weapons Platoon, Alpha Company, 1/3. “We have a lot of new Marines, and the whole group is learning to work in teams, but they still have a ways to go in the areas of consolidations after the attack and basic weapons handling.”Wolfe, a Dallas, Texas native, explained that the Marines did alright in the areas of entering and maneuvering inside the building, but training was conducted because there are always areas that need more work. The purpose of training is to work on the Marines’ weaknesses and that is why they are in the field each week.Once the Marines regrouped after the attacks, it was apparent, by the blue and orange simunition round spots on their uniforms, who would have made it out of the building alive and who would have been killed. That factor made it more realistic to the Marines, because they could put that information into perspective and imagine that those fellow Marines really were killed.“This is more practical training,” said Wolfe. “From the scenarios to the building itself, the Bellows training area is very similar to what the Marines will see, once they are in Afghanistan.”Before 1/3 deploys to again support the War on Terrorism, training operations will include a battalion field exercise as well as hot- and cold-weather training in Bridgeport and Camp Pendleton, Calif.