The USMC’s new High Intensity Tactical Training program at Twentynine Palms incorperates shooting simulators. Marine Corp Times reports (emphasis added)…

The real challenge came when they ran upstairs. There, trainers had placed a pair of individual shooting stations where the Marines, carrying red rubber rifles, fired from the prone position at images of enemy gunmen appearing on a projection screen. A phone-sized device attached to each Marine’s hip sent brief jolts whenever he landed a shot. Shots to the head produced blood splatters on the wall behind the images.

“So along with shooting under fatigue, you have to shoot under the fear of threat,” said Brad Brimhall, the combat center’s Semper Fit director. “We try to make it as realistic as possible.”

Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Nyangani shot a 97 on his second round after getting a near-perfect 99 points on his first attempt. Fatigue was definitely a factor. “I suck,” he said with a smile, as he took his rubber rifle and dashed down the stairs.

He wasn’t alone. Some of the Marines saw slight drops in their shooting scores by their third attempt. Trainers expect to see exhaustion set in initially, but they say that trend can be reversed by repeated training.

It seems to me that giving a marksman a jolt when he makes a shot is only going to train his body to anticipate the jolt before he pulls the trigger, thereby ruining accuracy. This is why it is recommended to teach new shooters how to shoot with low recoil guns, so that they do not learn to anticipate the blast, noise and pain of a high recoiling gun.

[ Many thanks to Lance for emailing me the link. ]