The Tease of Things I Don't Need

First Person Recruiter

A program instituted almost two years ago by the U.S. Army to use PC games as a recruiting tool has proven highly successful, with over 3.3 million registered players.

"Chris Chambers, deputy director of the "America's Army" project, said in an
interview at the E3 gaming trade show here that prospective soldiers
who contact Army recruiters after playing the game have a better follow-through
rate than any other form of advertising or promotion."
They went so far as to stage an event at the E3 video game show involving several soldiers rappelling from a Blackhawk helicopter to stage a mock invasion of the show.

As the parent of 12 and 14 year old sons, the older of whom in particular has been attracted to war simulation video games (though, to the best of my knowledge, that hasn't included the Army's games), I have understandably mixed feelings on this.

The "America's Army" project games are intended to provide realistic combat situations, and to reward control and restraint while penalizing gung-ho, guns-a-blazin' approaches, and I'm not rushing to fault them for being canny enough to make use of such a powerful tool. On the other hand, and it's a big hand, there's so far no practical way to give the player a truly realistic battle experience, including what it's like to be wounded and maimed, nor what it feels like to live with the consequences of having taken another human life. Indeed, on that last point, I'm not likely to be dissuaded from the view that these games desensitize its players to the concept of taking a human life.

Moreover, with this administration's approach to imperialistic military adventures abroad - a process with no end in sight, which, if maintained, will suck up many more hundreds of thousands of young men and women in the coming years as we find ourselves maintaining garrisons like a reborn Roman Empire - I despair the fate of one or both of my children.

It's too easy to see a United States where those who are not of exceptional means, be those inherent talents or family wealth, could be forced to choose between generally dead end, low-paying service sector/retail jobs and the military as career paths.