MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. -- Before the invention of night vision technology, vehicle drivers, riflemen and pilots relied solely on the naked eye and judgment during nighttime missions.

When the first pair of Night Vision Goggles was invented in the 1980s, military personnel were able to direct more attention to the mission at hand, instead of worrying about missing the designated target or flying into a mountain ridge.

Today, even newer technology has been developed and the Night Imaging and Threat Evaluation Lab aboard Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, also known as the Night Vision Goggle Training Lab, prepares Marines and Sailors with the knowledge and skills necessary to survive and execute missions in dark skies.

"The Marine Corps is always deploying, so it's important that we train pilots and crew chiefs here for any nighttime situations they may encounter," said Navy Lt. Ellis Gayles, aeromedical safety officer and NVG instructor, Marine Aircraft Group 11, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. "You can take the goggles with you when you fly, but without training you wouldn't know what to expect in any given situation."

Human eyes work best during daytime, with normal vision at 20/20. At night, average vision drastically decreases to 20/200, the legal definition of blindness. With the goggles, vision improves up to 20/40 during hours of darkness.

The goggles are usually worn on the head, mounted to a helmet. They illuminate the operator's field of vision in green light (studies prove that this color is least fatiguing to the eyes), amplifying existing ambient light through infrared energy not visible to the human eye.

Gayles and other qualified instructors educate pilots and crew chiefs about these battery-operated, electro-optical devices every two weeks, teaching them how the goggles work, situations they are going to encounter while using the eyewear and factors that can negatively affect pilots during the night.

"It's important that everyone knows NVGs do not turn night into day," Gayles, a Denver native, informed his class. "Also, the goggles give you a limited field of view, decreasing your peripheral vision. You always have to scan the area constantly when wearing the goggles."

Though many NVG users would agree that wearing the goggles during hours of darkness is better than nothing, there are still several other factors that contribute to poor night goggle vision like limited view of the horizon, visual illusions and even sand and dust storms in operational environments like Iraq.

Gayles and other instructors prepare their students for these endeavors during the lecture portion of the eight-hour class.

After the slide shows, demonstrations and personal flying stories, students get a hands-on opportunity to experience how the goggles work on the terrain board located in a dark room.

Without the goggles, students see pitch black. Once they put the goggles on, the room is illuminated with green light.

"How many boats do you see?" Petty Officer 2nd Class Joseph Entrekin, aeromedical safety corpsman and NVG instructor, MAG-11, asked a group of students.

The majority of students guessed the wrong number until Entrekin increased the light on the board.

As he increased the light on the model of the moon, a city, mountain range and a single boat that were completely invisible before suddenly lit up.

"The goggles still need a light source to operate at their full potential," explains Entrekin, a Washington Courthouse, Ohio, native. "The more light that is available, the more plateaus, ranges and other objects the goggles will light up."

After completing the course, students began practicing using the goggles right away.
Many MAG-11 pilots like Lt. Col. Jeff Renier, director of safety and standardization, and Maj.

Mark Larsen, aviation safety officer, are thankful for the class and the ability to execute nighttime missions more effectively.

"Nighttime missions were more difficult before goggles," said Renier, who was a pilot years before the goggles were introduced to the military. "Then again, we also didn't know about the new technology, and we still accomplished tasks without them. Night vision is a tremendous step up in the ability to execute missions."

"Precise targeting is easier with the goggles," agreed Larsen. "With their capabilities, there's no need for a rest period during night. It's 'game on' 24-7."