Jim Hightower: Army Recruiters Open War 'Experience' Arcade to Attract Youngsters

[marmar]

via AlterNet:



Army Recruiters Open War 'Experience' Arcade to Attract Youngsters

Posted by Jim Hightower, JimHightower.com at 4:31 PM on December 5, 2008.

With more than 14,000 square feet of prime mall space, the experience center is bigger than three basketball courts and is filled with lots of dazzle.



From football to beach volleyball, competitive games can get your juices going.

But the ultimate game, the one that'll give you the greatest rush, is ... what? Why, it's war, of course. Yeah, man, you literally get to kill the other team! How great is that?

Such thinking (if it can be called thinking) is behind the latest leap in marketing by the U.S. Army. In its constant effort to lure young people into the killing business, the office of military recruitment has come up with a whiz bang showcase to appeal to a generation that's been raised on computer games and that hangs out at the mall a lot. It's called the "Army Experience Center," and the first one has opened right across from the Dave & Busters food and fun outlet in a mall in northeast Philadelphia.

With more than 14,000 square feet of prime mall space, the experience center is bigger than three basketball courts and is filled with lots of dazzle. There are nearly 80 video gaming stations, all sorts of interactive exhibits, a replica command-and-control center, and -- best of all -- a bunch of high-tech simulators that let the kids get a feel for the military action of, say, a Black Hawk helicopter.

The simulators are way cool. For example, youngsters can sit in a model chopper with a simulator that makes it seem as though they're ripping right over a mountain village, and – get this – they get the thrill of shooting at enemies in the village! Yes, the virtural thrill of the kill coming to a mall near you. And, indeed, the army says it hopes to replicate the experience all across the country. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/110495/army_recruiters_open_war_%27experience%27_arcade_to_attract_youngsters/

[shadowknows69]

1. Well, this just has evil written all over it.

[JohnyCanuck]

2. Getting a feel for military action.

There are nearly 80 video gaming stations, all sorts of interactive exhibits, a replica command-and-control center, and -- best of all -- a bunch of high-tech simulators that let the kids get a feel for the military action of, say, a Black Hawk helicopter.

Too bad the war gamers can't "get a feel" for having a couple limbs blown off, finding yourself with a belly full of shrapnel and your guts hanging out your shit, or being poisoned from exposure to assorted chemicals, unproven vaccines or depleted uranium dust and then having to engage in man to man combat with the VA to get compensation and treatment while suffering from assorted, debilitating medical conditions.

[pecwae]

3. The games sound

not that much different than what parents are buying for their kid's playstations for Christmas. The parents are voluntarily contributing to the pockets of the companies who make Grand Theft Auto and similar and encouraging the use of simulated violence right there at home.

[Karenina]

4. I truly hope the good people of Philly nix this PRONTO.

:puke:

[arcadian]

5. They are always set up at county fairs around here.

GoArmy Humvees with a giant screen TV in the back with XBOX and a huge sub woofer. If you take note of these recruiters a lot of them are with the Psychological Operations and Civil Affairs Command, that is under U.S. Special Forces. They are running psy-ops on U.S. soil and against our own people.

[arcadian]

6. Good clean fun