The latest military recruitment tool: “virtual reality”

A friend of mine in the video game/electronics biz, we’ll call him N, recently got back from an expo called Digital Life, sort of a big exhibition for video games and whatnot. While he was there, he got to take a look at the Army’s newest way of recruiting young soldiers, and I’ll let him take over, though I’ll throw some emphasis around at particularly interesting parts.

N says:

“They cordoned off a section of the convention hall floor behind a big black curtain, with a large trailer in front of it. Beside the video games (demos of the Xbox 360 America’s Army game outside and a few computers with the PC America’s Army game inside for people to play), it felt more than a little like a laser tag game or virtual reality ride set up at a fair.

I had to register first, which involved putting my (outdated) personal information into their computer as a blatant grab for recruitment info. Once that was done, they scanned my license and put my face on a freshly printed ID card/badge that said I was partaking in the simulator. They also had a webcam to snap photos for the ID cards if the licenses didn’t work. The ID cards went into black pouches, like many convention badge holders. Also in the pouches were a plastic device about the size of a USB key. I assume it took readings from the game.

Once that was done, I was led (along with about ten to twenty other people) out of the trailer and into the cordoned-off area. Four large vehicles were set up in front of large projection screens. They were humvees or troop carriers, with fake machine guns mounted on the doors and roofs. A man with camo pants and a black t-shirt briefed us on the game. Basically he just explained the equipment a bit and showed us a video detailing the “situation:” a high-priority terrorist target was captured, and we had to defend a convoy that would go into the hostile territory to extract the target and the people who captured him.

After the briefing, we took positions in the different vehicles. I sat in the top turret of a humvee and manned a large M-240 machine gun mounted on a sliding, semicircular track. When everyone was settled in, the simulation began.

Honestly, it wasn’t much different from any other complex arcade game or virtual reality ride. Big fake vehicle, light guns (pressurized so they would rattle semi-realistically), and a giant video game projected on a big screen. If it wasn’t a recruitment tool, I could see people paying $5-10 for rides on it. It was actually kind of fun. I shot terrorists and blew up enemy jeeps while my vehicle shook from the barrage of rockets and IEDs it endured. After about seven minutes on the ride, the vehicles rolled into safe territory and the screens said “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.”

After the ride, we were taken into another treasure, where we watched a short recruitment video and told about the whole America’s Army deal and about the army itself. They capped off the ride by bringing in Sgt. Tommy Rieman, one of the four soldiers upon which Army’s “Real Heroes” action figures and parts of the game were based. You might remember Sgt. Rieman as the Silver Star recipient whom Bush invoked and pointed out during this year’s State of the Union address. The player with the highest “score” (we didn’t see the actual scores of the game) got an action figure of Tommy Rieman. I had already received one from one of the PR reps who invited me to the game. Finally, everyone got an America’s Army: Virtual Army Experience neckstrap and a copy of the PC game upon which the ride was based.

Before I condemn parts of this, I’d like to make some things clear. I respect Sgt. Rieman, and thank him for his service regardless of his use as a political tool at the State of the Union address. My problems with military and foreign policy have nothing to do with the soldiers who indeed serve this nation, whether in spirit or application. Nor do I have a massive problem with the army putting out America’s Army five years ago, or continuing the franchise. The latest version of the game for the Xbox 360 is being commercially published by Ubisoft and is based on the Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 engine, and I suspect it will actually be a good game.

However, I have some major problems with this “Virtual Army Experience” exhibit, and the tactics they are using to recruit people. During the ride, nobody’s players got hurt or died. In every game, including America’s Army, you can get shot and you can die. Nobody on the ride had any problem at all, even while virtual terrorists fired at us and virtual rockets and virtual roadside bombs shook the virtual humvee. They were careful to not mention the possibility of death at all in such a scenario. For a “Virtual Army Experience,” they didn’t just gloss over the threat of injury or death, they completely ignored it while taking participants through a “simulator” with heavily armed vehicles driving through hostile territory and getting shot at.

The entire “Real Hero” action figure concept also unsettled me. I’m personally an action figure collector, but I suspect that most individuals who see and buy these (poorly articulated and sculpted) figures are in the 8-15 range. Impressionable youths. I don’t have a problem with G.I. Joes. Not even the G.I. Joes based on real people. But these action figures are so completely strewn with recruitment propaganda that they make Duke look like Cobra Commander. The packaging was covered with messages like “EMPOWER YOURSELF. DEFEND FREEDOM.” and “The Warrior Ethos: a set of principles by which each Soldier lives.” These aggressive recruitment messages, combined with the action figure, trading card, and video game (all included in the package) seem to shamelessly grab for the attention of individuals far too young to enlist, or to make their own decisions about these things. Ironically (but not surprisingly), the figures are manufactured in China.

Food for thought: Halo 3 is rated M and you need to be 18 to buy it. America’s Army is rated T for teen.“

Beautiful, N. The army is reeling in teenagers via a video game, and gave them a demo that made sure they couldn’t lose just in case realizing that people die in a war might turn them off.