Kill House is a live ammunition

Ammunition

Ammunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...

 training facility used to train soldiers and police officers in the tactics necessary for urban combat. Kill houses are designed to mimic a varying range of structures such as suburban homes and factories to prepare soldiers and police officers for close range combat and dangers associated with infiltrating hostile areas. Kill houses are often used to acquaint teams with the tactics and choreography used to overwhelm a target in the quickest and most efficient manner. The construction of one of these facilities can vary in material and cost depending on the needs and the resources of the user. Like any shooting range, there are rules that must be followed to ensure a safe kill house session.

Purpose

Kill houses are used to specifically train officers or soldiers in urban combat. This includes training soldiers and officers in the quickest and most efficient method in which to subdue a target. Kill house training exercises emphasize the use of teamwork to accomplish necessary tasks and capture of dangerous individuals. This is accomplished through practice of predetermined choreography, much like the plays in football, that allow each member of the team to learn their part of the operation in the safe environment of the kill house. These facilities also help refine skills such as dealing with multiple targets, identifying shoot/no shoot situations and switching from primary to secondary weapons. Kill houses are in simplest terms a simulation of possible situations a soldier or officer can face out in the field.

Materials

Kill houses can be built from almost any materials, ranging from concrete to something as simple as plywood depending on the needs of the users of the kill house. For structures that need to contain and absorb gun fire, stronger materials are needed such as concrete or ballistic rubber. It's important to note that using materials that can't absorb gun fire may lead to injuries and death. For more temporary or cost effective needs, plywood or a plastic sheet can make a suitable wall.

In addition to the actual facility, the shoot house also requires targets to simulate the individuals they must subdue. The most common and recognizable targets used in shoot houses are paper silhouettes and mannequins. To simulate the movement of an actual person the targets are either placed on rails or they can pop up from an undisclosed location.

Virtual Kill House

An alternative to the more traditional shoot house is the a virtual

Virtual

The term virtual is a concept applied in many fields with somewhat differing connotations, and also, differing denotations.The term has been defined in philosophy as "that which is not real" but may display the salient qualities of the real....

 kill house. Virtual kill houses make use of audio and visual technology to create an interactive, if not video game like, experience. This version of a kill house uses a projector to display different scenarios on a screen while sensors keep track of the soldier's relative position and if he/she has hit the target on the screen.

Virtual kill houses provide the same experience as a traditional shoot house, but are much more realistic and interactive. In a normal shoot house, soldiers would shoot at silhouettes or mannequins, but in the virtual counter part the targets are life sized and free to move along the screen. One these shoot houses usually only requires a flat surface to display the scenarios, so wax ammunition is used in place of actual bullets.

One notable virtual kill house is the Army Live Fire Virtual Targeting system used at Fort Bragg. Previously, the software used for the facility was part of "America's Army," an online recruitment tool

Recruitment tool

A recruitment tool is an advertising method that aids in creating interest in and getting people for a typically political organization. The term can not properly be applied to commercial advertising. Historically recruitment tools have often taken the form of posters or films, though in modern...

, which has been adapted for use in real training exercises.

Safety

To avoid unwanted discharges and accidents, there are set of guidelines, known as the cardinal rules, used to ensure a safe shoot house session. These cardinal rules are:

1. Treat every fire arm as if its loaded.
2. Keep your fire arm pointed away from other people.
3. Keep your finger out and away from the trigger.
4. Be aware of not just your target but everything beyond it.

In addition to the cardinal rules other guidelines include:

• The mandatory use of ear and eye protection.
• The mandatory use of body armor.
• Targets should be place around room so rounds hit the impact areas.
• There should be no one in the shoot house before the training exercise.
• Equipment (guns, ammunition, targets, and the shoot house) should all be authorized and inspected before training exercise.

Public Use

In addition to army and police use, kill houses, like shooting ranges, are available for public use. Companies such as Meggit Training Systems offer to build permanent or portable shoot houses for the public. There is also a community of enthusiasts that build and use kill houses for their own purposes and entertainment. Kill houses though are still a training tool first and foremost.