So here’s something you won’t often read on a computer games news site: the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan aren’t going very well, as far as the military is concerned. Yes, I know, politically divisive and all that. But what isn’t really arguable is that the war on terror is putting a weighty strain on the United States military, and recruiting has become a bit of a problem in that almost no one wants to sign up. Last year, the Army continued its trend of missing recruiting benchmarks, both in quantity and quality of new recruits, at a time when a robust military is clearly needed. To make up the gap, the Army has been lowering educational standards for recruits and granting huge numbers of wavers to allow those with criminal histories to join – and for all that, they’re still coming up short. It’s not surprising that the way in which the Army goes about recruiting is about to undergo a serious overhaul.

Here’s something else that is no secret: that game we love playing, America’s Army, is a recruiting tool. Every penny of it’s $6-8 million production cost came out of the taxpayer-supported recruiting budget. So what will happen to our game when it is longer needed for our recruitment?

Thankfully, that shouldn’t be a problem any time soon. In particular, news broke recently that Army recruitment centers may be heading away from the beige, empty offices of the strip mall and towards a hybrid creature that will look something like a Dave and Busters or an Apple store. As reported in Brand Week:

”The first new recruitment center is designed to be less intimidating and more ‘like walking into a NASA center,’ said [Edward Walters, CMO of the U.S. Army]. It will consist of three large simulators with full-scale mock-ups of Army equipment and wrap-around 270-degree video screens.”


The mock-ups will be accompanied by game stations where potential recruits can play on America’s Army game servers while hearing from recruiters about Army life.

So what’s this about? Well, direct recruiting it certainly isn’t. The officers who came by my high school and neighborhood mall those years ago may be on the way out, and it has become clear that simply asking kids what they plan to do after graduation doesn’t convince them to strap on a uniform. Further, in five years of playing AA, I have never felt particularly set upon by recruiters. There’s the Army logo and links to the Army site, sure, but they’re no more intrusive than any game developer’s credentials. When I play Call of Duty 4 I don’t feel hunted by Activision – their name just happens to be on their product.



What this is really about, then, is brand awareness. The Army is betting that if the concept of military enlistment becomes synonymous with words like “adventure”, “fun”, “service”, “bravery” and “heroism”, their recruitment will go up accordingly. The question is, then, whether this new interactive face will be enough to change the fact that insurgents and the 24-hour media cycle are working very hard to make military enlistment synonymous with words like “wounded”, “Iraq”, “casualty” and “post-traumatic stress.” Only time will tell.

Moving in tandem, small groups of special forces soldiers assemble after dropping into enemy territory. Before rolling dunes of desert scrub and sand blasted, lonely buildings, the armed soldiers prepare to go to work. Over a mile of sand and an armed, organized opposing force lies between them and their mission objective, but, to be honest, that’s what makes it fun.

It’s a common enough scenario that plays out on any number of America’s Army game servers on a daily basis, but this group of players has what could conservatively be called “extra training”: every member of the 1st Veteran’s Battalion, over 200 in all, are active or retired members of a real-life military from somewhere in the world.

“I would describe it as probably the tightest knit group that comes from across the nation and even across continents,” says Sergeant Chris Hankins, 31. Hankins, who goes by the handle ‘(1VB) C4,’ has served as, among other positions, a Crew Chief with the U.S. Marines and a gunner aboard the M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank. “Gaming with veterans is unlike any other group. It is the same environment that we are used to when on active duty, reserves or on deployment. It’s the guys and gals around you that make the environment what it is.”

These veteran members of the fourth largest clan operating anywhere in the U.S. Army designed game are certainly dedicated and effective gamers. To date, the 1VB has waged over 91,000 hours of simulated combat with more than a million kills. On average, a member of the 1st Veterans has died in virtual warfare 4700 times on America’s Army servers.

“Gaming with veterans is unlike any other group,” Hankins adds, “You know how most of the members will act and think.” The group functions, as one would imagine, in organized military fashion and 1VB members are often held to the same high moral standards in game as they would if they were wearing their real-world uniforms.

Using this discipline, the members experience some of the same camaraderie and fierce excellence in competition that makes them a well known force in the AAO community. One might think that this would be the end of the group’s influence.

A glance at their website, however, shows that online combat is not the only thing on these gamers’ collective consciousness. The website forum, active in several topics, features a large section on “Military and Veteran Issues”. This topic, the largest single subject after the “General” forum, includes updates on lawsuits against the V.A. for lack of care and discussions of the Veteran’s Compensation Equity Bill.

“I have found out information not previously available or easily accessed by normal means,” Hankins says of the forums, where he acts as an administrator. “Some of our members are employees of the VA or have some inside connections to the DAV.” This, Hankins claims, has given the group valuable information as they struggle through an often cumbersome veterans’ care system. It also functions as a gathering ground for others who have faced the brutal realities of a true war. The forum has areas devoted to dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder and other emotional costs of combat.

“Being around veterans is like having a security blanket or extended family,” Hankins says, adding that he too has shared personal issues with his virtual squad mates. “We initially came together for the gaming, but it has developed into so much more.”

If you haven’t tried America’s Army, please find a good America’s Army server, maybe even 1st Veteran’s Battalion’s AA server and experience the camaraderie for yourself.