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The Pentagon's Ultimate Home Theater

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the lovely-lovely-fort-sill dept.

Steve Silberman writes "I was the first reporter to see the inside of a new battle-simulation system designed by the Institute for Creative Technologies, a 'military-entertainment' think tank sponsored by the Defense Department. Starting in September, Marines, infantrymen, and Air Force pilots will train for war in Matrix-like rooms in Oklahoma simulating urban and desert environments, with surround sound and photorealistic rendering of bombing runs and other scenarios. It may or may not be the future of military training, but it's certainly the future of home gaming. My article, 'The War Room,' will appear in the September issue of Wired."

4 of 242 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Wait by mog007 · · Score: 0, Troll

    I'm not trying to say that the Military has no regard for human life>

    Yeah.. I know that the best way to express your joy for a person by shooting them in the face.

    --
    Learn something new.
  2. Re:How long... by Chuck+Bucket · · Score: 0, Troll

    it's a good call, really, we need to train our future soldiers how NOT to treat prisoners, since common sense isn't a req to join the military.

    CB$@#UNB

    --
    free ipod and free gmail!
  3. What a waste of tax payer money by Billly+Gates · · Score: 0, Troll

    I am upset that we cut funding for social security and medicare yet have no problem funding entertainment theaters.

    I am not saying this is not cool. Just that I do not understand why we need all this and why we are all paying for it when other problems need fixing.

    --
    http://saveie6.com/
  4. Rob Sears is mistaken. by Werelock · · Score: 0, Troll

    The executive producer of JFETS is Rob Sears, and he's quoted as saying

    "I keep two measures of success in mind for JFETS," he tells me. "Number one, I want guys who have been to the Middle East to go into those rooms and have their hair stand on end. And number two, to have the project be an election-year trophy for Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz so they can say, We're transforming the Army."
    roughly 1/4 of the way into the article. He's wrong entirely on his second reason. The ICT program has been in the works longer than Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz have been in their current positions. From the beginning of the article:
    By contrast, the Army's bill for underwriting ICT for the last five years was $45 million. Rehearsing even a single mission in the field also requires weeks of planning and construction.
    Rumsfeld began his job in 2001, and at the time these decisions were made - guessing 5-7 years ago - he was still working in the private industry. Wolfowitz was appointed in 2001 also, and
    "For the last seven years, Dr. Wolfowitz has served as Dean and Professor of International Relations at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of The Johns Hopkins University. ( http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/wolfowitz-bi o.html Whitehouse Bio)
    Prior to 2001 he was not involved in defense or military preparedness spending. Mr Sears needs to check his facts on who is responsible for what. President Clinton and his staff pushed the ICT initiative - not Bush, Cheney, Wolfowitz or Rumsfeld. This administration simply gets to enjoy the fruits of someone else's purchasing decisions.