Video Games: Government's New Recruiting Tool

[TheOneBigWill]

They did a piece on the news the other day about a store within a Pennsylvania mall that's owned and ran by the Government as a recruitment center. The store was about a million dollar creation (toy) that the Government built as "the next step in finding the Future's Heros."

Basically put, it's a bunch of simulation games. You have a Hummer with fake, life-like guns on it and it's a big game in which you stand, drive, or sit within the vehicle and drive through a simulated example of what's happening in Iraq. Basically, the objective is a routine drive that gets interrupted by terrorists who're trying to blow you up. Your mission.. kill them.

They also have part of a Helicopter, and it has the basic same set-up. You sit w/ life-like guns hanging out of the windows, or side doors, and it's a routine run that gets interrupted.

They interviewed, in my opinion two fucking idiots, about the set-up. Their answer was point blank.. (roughly put)

"We didn't know what this place was. We seen the neon lights outside the store, and thought we'd check it out. When we came in we noticed an Army recruiter who came up to us and asked if we wanted to try something new out, that was like Halo.

We said sure, and they took us to this cool set-up they had. They told us it's a simulated run of what's actually happened before in Iraq. The equipment they used was life-like and everything felt real. It was fun."

When they were asked whether or not they were joining.. the following was their answer. (almost to a quote.. disturbing)

"Well, originally I never thought I'd join, but this was so much fun we're definately signing up now. I don't want to be in a real heated battlezone, but if that's where I get assigned, I'm definately feeling up for the challenge of killing some bad guys."

Uhm.. is this what our Government is truly leaning toward now? We've fallen so far down the ladder of people wanting to join the Services, that we're tricking our youth into joining because it feels like a video game?! I can't in good thinking believe this is going to lead us into anything good.

Mainly, I'd like to know everyone's thoughts and opinions on this situation. Personally, because I know our Forum has a couple individuals who're infact, IN the Armed Forces, or work within the Government as apart of our fighting Men and Women.. I want their take on how their, our, Government is turning to recruiting now.

I personally think this is below stupid and is going to seriously not just get many people killed.. but it's going to cause a national outbreak of people turning on our Government even more so, to the point of what could potentially be chaotic.

What are your opinions and views of this "new toy"?

To add to it, this is something I found within the internet about the new situation.

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The U.S. Army, struggling to ensure it has enough manpower as it fights wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is wooing young Americans with video games, Google maps and simulated attacks on enemy positions from an Apache helicopter.

Departing from the recruiting environment of metal tables and uniformed soldiers in a drab military building, the Army has invested $12 million in a facility that looks like a cross between a hotel lobby and a video arcade.

The U.S. Army Experience Center at the Franklin Mills shopping mall in northeast Philadelphia has 60 personal computers loaded with military video games, 19 Xbox 360 video game controllers and a series of interactive screens describing military bases and career options in great detail.

Potential recruits can hang out on couches and listen to rock music that fills the space.

The center is the first of its kind and opened in August as part of a two-year experiment. So far, it has signed up 33 full-time soldiers and five reservists -- roughly matching the performance of five traditional recruiting centers it replaced.

The U.S. military says it has been meeting or exceeding its recruiting and retention goals, with 185,000 men and women entering active-duty military service in the fiscal year that ended on September 30 -- the highest number since 2003.

Defense officials say the recession and rising unemployment were likely to boost recruiting.

The Philadelphia center lures recruits with a separate room for prospective soldiers to "fire" from a real Humvee on enemy encampments projected on a 15-foot-high (4.5-meter-high) battleground scenario that also has deafening sound effects.

In another room, those inclined to attack from above can join helicopter raids in which enemy soldiers emerge from hide-outs to be felled by automatic gunfire rattling from a simulator modeled on an Apache or Blackhawk helicopter.

The Army is not simply looking for new recruits, said First Sgt. Randy Jennings, who runs the center. It also aims to dispel misperceptions about Army life.