Army Staff Sgt. Donald Kimzey looks constantly to his left and right as his partner struggles to open a gate into an Iraqi-style compound.
With his M-4 carbine in hand to provide cover, Kimzey nervously checks on his partner’s progress.
“You got it?” he asks, moments before spotting the inevitable.
“I’ve got a guy with a gun over here!” he hollers while opening fire.
Inside the compound, it doesn’t take long before unfriendlies appear atop buildings, around corners and up the stairs — where Kimzey’s partner is later taken down by gunfire.
If this were reality, the story would tragically end there.
But this is far from the real world. The entire mission stops abruptly, not with blood or death but when a virtual training expert essentially hollers cut. Kimzey and his partner take off their virtual training helmets and their eyes adjust to the lights inside a Fort Leavenworth auditorium.