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On the television screen you see a militaristic scenario being played out by seven young people. Each player is connected to the others via an online connection, a headset, and a microphone. One player, after getting obliterated behind a protective barrier, says, “Who in the world are we playing against?” One by one, the other players are eliminated. Another player exclaims, “Man, these guys are good!”

It turns out the players are competing against seven real Navy SEALs.

This is a commercial for the PlayStation2 video game SOCOM 2: U.S. Navy SEALs, one of many popular military video games being played across the country. Games such as SOCOM 2: U.S. Navy SEALs send a positive message about the military while entertaining the new gaming generations.

America's Army

Recruiters have identified today’s young adults as technologically savvy, and the military is trying to take advantage of the computer age to reach that younger crowd.

“I had a discussion with my [Naval Junior ROTC] cadets about the development of video games. The majority of the kids play them. There are about five or six they all play together, including online,” says Master Chief Dennis Amon, USN-Ret., naval science instructor at Clayton High School in Clayton, N.C. “They play the militaristic games because it gives them a feel for what it’s like under combat situations, and if they die they create a new character and go on. My cadets range in age from 14 to 18. The whole spectrum of [cadets] is involved in using these PlayStation, Xbox, and computer military games.”

In 1999, the Army teamed up with the University of Southern California to launch the Institute for Creative Technologies, a collaboration of entertainment executives and game makers committed to dreaming up new systems for training soldiers. America's Army, the U.S. Army’s official online video game, was developed at another institute— Modeling, Virtual Environments & Simulation at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. The game’s claim to fame is that it is “the only video game designed by the world’s premier land force—the U.S. Army.”

 According to its creators, America’s Army is designed to provide young adults with virtual insights into entry-level soldier training and operations to show users what the Army is like.

“Our goal is to create an experience that is truthful in its depiction of life [as] a U.S. soldier,” says Maj. Christopher Chambers, USA-Ret., deputy project director for America’s Army. “Training, values, teamwork, challenge, and excitement are some of the key features of the vicarious experience we offer in America’s Army.”

From Virtual to Reality

It makes sense for the armed services to enter this virtual arena, from both a technological and a recruiting stance, because most game enthusiasts are males in their teens and 20s.

“Independent survey results find America’s Army to be the Army’s most effective marketing effort for reaching young people. Twenty-nine percent of young Americans ages 16 to 24 reported that America’s Army is one of their leading sources of positive awareness about the Army,” says Chambers. “If it were not for the game, many of these young people [would] miss any messaging from the Army, and instead gather their information from other non-Army resources, such as movies, television, or other commercial military games.”

Other factors also reinforce the Army’s message. For example, “an unplanned byproduct of America’s Army is that many soldiers also participate in the game and the forums,” says Chambers. “These unstructured encounters with the Army are valuable means of connecting with young people.”

Keeping it Real

Chambers thinks the move into virtual reality and video games eventually will help the efforts of recruiters, as well as the military in general, and Amon agrees.

“Recruiters are using these games as attention-grabbers, in an attempt to draw the younger recruits. The military is getting [its] name associated with these games, and the exposure is automatic,” says Amon. “It’s proven—the more you put your name in front of somebody, when the time comes … to make a decision, they’ll be more apt to go with something familiar.”

Recruiters also hope the excitement of militaristic video games—charging an enemy’s position, maneuvering through hostile territories, etcetera—and the skills exercised in these situations will turn the gamers of today into the soldiers of tomorrow.

“We don’t expect that anyone will sign up for the Army just because they played the America’s Army game. Our goal is to make meaningful connections with young people through a pop-culture venue,” says Chambers. “The recruiter is not involved until the player decides to seek further information. The player is in total control of the amount and type of message that he consumes.” Should gamers be interested in learning more about the Army, they are encouraged to initiate contact with recruiters or visit the GoArmy.com Web site for more information.

“Players who embody the Army’s core moral concepts and work with others as a team perform the best in our game,” says Chambers. “In the end, they take away the most important messages we can send them about the Army, whether or not they care to join.”

With games such as HALO 2, SOCOM 2, and Full Spectrum Warrior readily available to today’s younger players, the military’s entrance into this realm was only a matter of time. Older generations had Risk, Axis & Allies, and Stratego—all forms of military gaming. What those board games lacked was a sense of “being there.” Today’s virtual reality has everything a real combat situation would have, with a few fortunate exceptions. Keith Halper, president and CEO of Kuma Reality Games, thinks this medium should be used wisely.

“We are taking possibly the most powerful medium that has ever existed and now applying it to something very real. So you get to vicariously experience what people are doing in the field, but I think that’s a positive thing,” says Halper. “I think we owe it to the guys that we’re putting in the field and putting in danger to know what it is they are going through.”

Halper says the men and women fighting overseas have trained extensively to get where they are today, and they possess amazing skills he feels are not being appreciated. For Kuma Reality Games, the main objectives are to draw attention to the efforts of the servicemembers abroad and to show gamers the reality of war.

“Our games are not like other video games. Our games are putting you into the same situations that [servicemembers are] in, and they’re very dangerous,” Halper says. “You’ll come to appreciate, first off, how dangerous it really is and, secondly, just how difficult it is.”

Kuma Reality Games’ 2004 release, Kuma/War, is a first and third-person tactical squad-driven game, based on the actual stories of soldiers abroad. One of the stories chosen for Kuma/War is the heroic tale of Sgt. Maj. James Ross, Task Force 4th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Calvary Division. The virtual mission recreates events that actually happened in April 2004 in Baghdad, Iraq. The mission, entitled "Baghdad Convoy," is a true account from Ross as his patrol encountered three harrowing ambushes and succeeded in rescuing a Fallujah supply convoy under attack by insurgents. In June 2004, the members of Ross’s patrol all received Army Commendation Medals for Valor and the patrol leader received a Bronze Star for Valor.

Halper says, “Our goal is to really show what soldiers are forced to do every day. I think that we do a really good job of that.”