by Alice Atkinson-Bonasio

Created on: January 21, 2009

Videogames have grown up and become a vital part of the Army's 21st century arsenal. Two experts in the frontline of this trend talk about why the Army is getting serious about playing games.

If you're asked to picture videogames being used to train our military personnel, you could be forgiven for coming up with a horde of trigger-happy troops fresh from hundreds of hours playing some sort of Halo equivalent, wreaking havoc and being a bit surprised that they only have the one life.

But you would be wrong. In spite of FPS games such as America's Army
having been used by the military for recruitment, when it comes to training, the focus is not on thinking with your proverbial rifle. Games are being used as tactical decision aids, training soldiers to make better decisions and preparing them mentally for what they will experience.

The Army PEO STRI (Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training, and Instrumentation) uses several such programs to prepare their recruits for difficult situations in Iraq: BiLat, which was created by the Institute for Creative Technology (ICT) at the University of Southern California, is built on the Unreal 2.0 engine and teaches Soldiers the appropriate tactical and cultural means for holding meetings and discussions with local government leaders in Iraq. Another Unreal engine game teaches Iraqi language and cultural skills, and the soldiers actually learn basic phrases through playing the game.

Like the CIA, the army is also investing strongly in role-playing simulations that put recruits in unexpected roles and situations, forcing them to consider their actions and experience their consequences. One such initiative is called AWE (Asymmetric Warfare Environment), a massively multiplayer simulation that will train troops in urban warfare. It will even allow soldiers to create their own scenarios, sharing their conflict experiences and helping prepare others to face them. This is a momentous development, as in theory it will allow for the live updating of strategies and tactics. Without that, the training value of games soon goes out of date, as was the case with the controversial Full Spectrum Warrior. The game, developed by Pandemic studios, took so long to materialize that its battle tactics were outdated by the time it was ready to be used by the Army. Commercially, on the other hand, the game was very successful, but since the army had no rights to its profits, it was left millions of dollars in the red.

Even with such setbacks

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