Here's what it looks like when Marines blast their way into buildings while battling in cities
During the urban breaching training, the Marines and their Japanese partners used four types of explosive charges: detonating cord linear charges, uli knot sliders, doughnut charges, and water charges.
The linear charges can be run vertically on the sides or in the center of a door. The uli knot sliders are for door hinges. Doughnut charges are for door knobs. And water charges buckle metal doors.
The charges take around two to three minutes to make. The breach, which is carried out by two-man breaching teams, takes about 2 minutes max, although experienced breachers can do it faster.
For normal urban breaching operations, there are usually about four to six people, including the combat engineers and the assault force, in a stack (the line of people).
One approach is to stack up at an angle behind a Kevlar blast blanket.
Or, troops can stack up around the corner.
Before setting off the charge, the Marine with the detonator counts down from five. With heads down and mouths open, the troops in the stack exhale on three, clearing the air from their lungs.
When the smaller charges go off, the blast wave feels like someone pushed you, but with the bigger charges, it feels like you were hit by a linebacker, a Marine told Insider.
While most of the other charges create a fiery explosion, the water charge, which will fold in a metal door like paper, creates a cloud of mist.
In addition to the door charges, Marines also have oval charges for roofs.
"Our last course of action is to go through a wall or a roof," a Marine told Insider, explaining that there is danger of hitting a gas line or something like that and putting the stack at risk. Doors and windows are safer choices.
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