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Gaming in the Military

Posted by Zonk on from the gaming-as-relaxant dept.

Thanks to TopherHov who wrote in to mention a story on the Fox News site regarding gamers in the military, and the role that gaming plays for troops in the field. From the article: Games are as ubiquitous at Camp Fallujah and around it as tattoos, buzz cuts and shouts of "Hoorah" from one Marine to another. When the power goes out, a Humvee battery and a pair of alligator clips are all the resourceful gamer needs to resume the digitized fight.

39 comments

  1. 18-25 . . . by roseblood · · Score: 5, Insightful

    . . . is the age range that covers well over 60% of the members of our armed forces. This age group is also the biggest target for the gaming industry. No suprize there's mad games being played by members of our armed forces. They are all people too.

    --
    There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.
    1. Re:18-25 . . . by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This age group is also the biggest target for the gaming industry.

      And the Irakies ;-)

  2. nail in the coffin by fearanddread · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Just another nail in the coffin of the "video games are bad for you" arguement. The Army basically validated video gaming with America's Army. Soldiers in the field playing games to unwind is just icing on the cake.

    1. Re:nail in the coffin by ImTheDarkcyde · · Score: 1

      yes, and if i recall correctly the word is "hooah" not "hoorah", heard, acknowledged, understood, or some other military babble

    2. Re:nail in the coffin by FCAdcock · · Score: 1

      I was going to post this also. They don't yell hoorah, it's Hoo-Ah! And if you put an "r" in it, they tell you that "R's are for Retards" (I was raised by marines...)

      --
      --Forest C. Adcock--
    3. Re:nail in the coffin by sesshomaru · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Actually, the problem with that is that David Grossman's arguments about video games have been that they are bad because they are used by the military. Therefore, more widely documented use of video games by the official military and by soldiers tends to reinforce his points, if you agree with his central premise. I don't personally agree with it, but the people on the pro-censorship side of the video game debate like to use it.

      --
      "MIT betrayed all of its basic principles."
    4. Re:nail in the coffin by TheAdventurer · · Score: 1

      Riiight. I heard that people in the military also wear pants and brush their teeth. These activities must therefore be bad for society.

    5. Re:nail in the coffin by Slider451 · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'm in the military and I post on Slashdot.

      Urge to kill... rising.

      --
      Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
    6. Re:nail in the coffin by Moderator · · Score: 1

      What kind of Marines raised you to say 'Hoo-ah' and not capitalize the 'm' in Marine?

      --
      The World is Yours.
    7. Re:nail in the coffin by Drantin · · Score: 1

      It depends on the service...

      At RTC Great Lakes our RDCs(Recruit Division Commanders) had us count down during PT, when we got to 5,4 we then called out the number for our division, then a distinctive Hoo-yah!

      Then at "A" School there was someone who had done FMF(Fleet Marine Force, navy personnel assigned to the marines) duty as a corpsman who was crossrating(changing jobs), he always used "hoorah", from the audio in America's Army we know that they say Hoo-ah. As for the Air Force... no idea...

      --
      Actio personalis moritur cum persona. (Dead men don't sue)
  3. The Sims by Pyroneer · · Score: 4, Funny

    I think any U.S. Marine caught playing The Sims would quickly be hazed.

    1. Re:The Sims by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But less so than someone playing, say, Animal Crossing or Pokemon.

    2. Re:The Sims by superpulpsicle · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well I can't imagine marines playing Call of Duty or some fps with real rifle shooting sound. That's got to cause real havoc in a military base. "Oh sorry sir. It was the PC saying Enemy Spotted."

  4. Hooah! by WaterBreath · · Score: 0, Troll

    I thought it was "hooah", not "hoorah". And I don't think it's exclusive to Marines either. I have a friend in the Army and he brought back a whole slew of such sayings when he came back on leave. Among them were "hooah" and "high speed" (read: "pretty cool").

    1. Re:Hooah! by McKinney83 · · Score: 3, Informative

      From my understanding its HUA (heard, understood, acknowledged).

      Watch the movie "Blackhawk Down", as it uses this all the time.
      I know that the movies don't always get everything right, but this one is based off a book from a first-hand source.

      --
      Winner of The Second Annual Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence.
    2. Re:Hooah! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the hooah vs. hoorah depends on the branch of the military, hoorah being the verson favored by the marine core. as I recall, there is a 3rd verson, but I can't remember it now.

    3. Re:Hooah! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      nah, it's "hah!" for the airforce... re: the sound we (99% of the usaf) make when you guys are pounding ground while we're keeping everything running in the air, nice and safe.

    4. Re:Hooah! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Hoorah is said by the Marines.

      Hooah is said by the Army.

      The Rangers in Blackhawk down are Army soldiers. It is not an acryonim HUA(Heard, Understood, Acknowledge). You can simply just say "Roger".

      Hooah can be used many ways. It can mean understood. But, it is the only word that can used in a sarcastic mannor and not get you an article 15 from an officer.

      Officer: Do this bullshit Seargent.
      NCO: *sarcasticly* HOOAH SIR!

      That being said, saying hooah is for tools.

    5. Re:Hooah! by ggambett · · Score: 1

      Hmmm. It's hard to believe coming from someone that confuses "Marine Core" and "Marine Corps" just because they sound similar...

      --
      My website
    6. Re:Hooah! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Only someone who served in the Army (let me guess, one term, service support, perhaps a maintenance or personnel MOS), could have described the use of hooah so well.

      Getting the tone just right, a slow off-key rising pitch, is a form of art.

      That said, I'll tell you any decent officer can see right through the bullshit hooah. You're only fooling yourself if you believe you conned him. He just decided to pick his battles and respond elsewhere, such as with your denied promotion.

    7. Re:Hooah! by porp · · Score: 1

      Actually, no one really knows where hooah came from or even how to exactly spell it.

      Here's a link: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/jointservices/a/hoo ah.htm

    8. Re:Hooah! by eggmit · · Score: 1

      It's both, actually. The Army & Marine Corps each has its own version of the word -- Marines say "oorah" (or "hoorah," like the article says, although I've never seen it spelled that way), while Army guys prefer "hooah."

    9. Re:Hooah! by kristjansson · · Score: 1

      I knew a SGM once who insisted that it was "HUA, acronym, infantry, Head Up Ass!" He was a tanker, btw.

      From my own observations, guys were playing the games as an escape from reality, so things like KOTOR were popular if we were anywhere near where we could have a console. Once we got to our second home-away-from-home south of Baghdad, it was pretty much limited to GameBoys and laptops. BTW, the most popular GameBoy title for quite a while was the Sims...

  5. Actually.. by Israfels · · Score: 3, Informative

    US Marines say "Oorah!" Army says, "hoah" Navy says, "Hoyah" and Air Force says, "huh?". I was a Marine in the initial invasion on '03. I was also a computer tech, I job duties included setting up LAN games and using my laptop and a projector to have a makeshift theater. The sand destroyed every single DVD I had out there. Yet another reason DVD copying should be legal. "Support the troops!" Cpl. Roberts

    1. Re:Actually.. by Neo+Minder · · Score: 0

      I went with the first wave in '03 as well. Most of the books I brought as well as all my dvds were ruined. If I could have copied all those DVDs and brought the copies that would have been great.

      --
      By The Power Of GreySkull!
    2. Re:Actually.. by identity0 · · Score: 1

      Just out of curiosity, does the military enforce American copyright laws or stop file-sharing on its bases overseas? Would a soldier/marine/sailor be punished if they found pirate DVDs or music on him?

      Just wondering 'cause I've heard how networked the military is these days...

      And I'm glad you're back safe, btw.

    3. Re:Actually.. by Zorilla · · Score: 1

      Playstation 2s and desert sand do not mix. Their drives break anyway, but they do it a lot quicker out there. I was deployed last year as part of a combat communications squadron in the Air Force that was wannabe Army and got to see a whole bunch of PS2s break. A couple people brought Gamecubes. Obviously, those made it through gracefully.

      --

      It would be cool if it didn't suck.
    4. Re:Actually.. by Kumorigoe · · Score: 1

      I would think that those bases are treated as U.S. soil, and that all applicable laws would apply. There is a provision in the Uniform Code of Military Justice that allows a military member to be charged for crimes using civilian law.

      --
      "What I cary in this box is your utter subjugation."
    5. Re:Actually.. by Bolshoy+Pimpovich · · Score: 1

      Well... When you were here, did the locals sell you guys bootleg DVDs on the day of the movie's release?

      That and WiFi games of C&C Generals are how we survive out here, MAN!

      I've been here for 11 friggin' months, and I'm going home in less than 40 days!!!

      - happy toy soldier

      --
      Ehta nyeh IBM, ehta Macintosh!
  6. SOCOM 2 by thief_inc · · Score: 2, Funny

    I was in the Marines from 94-02. Me and all the Marines from my shop get together online and play socom. What is funny about it is that I play with guys I have never met, they just happen to work at the same unit I used to work at. Its like some sort of Bizarre Reunion. I esp. like hearing about pvts that I used to make clean urinals with toothbrushes and razor blades who are now Sgts and SSGts doing the same thing to new pvts. Good to know I raised them right.

    --
    "To Err is Human To Forgive is Divine neither of which is Marine Corp Policy"-My SNCOIC
  7. Don't Ask, Don't Tell by kajoob · · Score: 1, Funny

    I thought they allowed gaming in the military now, but you just couldn't tell anybody that you were a gamer.

    --
    Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur
  8. ObBrockman by sharkey · · Score: 1

    The government calls it the "army", but a more alarmist name would be "The Killbot Factory."

    --

    --
    "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
  9. So long as... by Jorkapp · · Score: 1

    As long as we don't introduce Counter-Strike to them. That game could cause problems.

    * Iraqi1 killed Marine1 with awp
    *DEAD* Marine1: d00d, j00 sh0tz0rz meh! w4ht 4r3 j00, 4 f4gggg?
    Marine2: CHEATERCHEATER WALLHACK!
    Marine3: omg tahts gay

    --
    Frink: Nice try floyd, but you were designed for scrubbing, and scrubbing is what you shall do.
  10. Good to know... by Kumorigoe · · Score: 1

    ...that I'm not the only Marine on the boards here. I'm an AMSU technician at NAS Fort Worth. Of course, I have ADD, so I've got 7 or 8 games going at once, but mainly GT3, polishing up my skills for GT4.

    --
    "What I cary in this box is your utter subjugation."
  11. Military Readers on /. by SlashDotIDOne · · Score: 1

    From reading these replies I'm beginning to think the military community on /. is composed entirely of marines and one air force who calls his own unit wannabe army. Though I can say from experience that I met more marines who played MUDs and D&D than any other branch. Some even openly.

    Though you have to know there probably are hundreds of gamers in the air force who have read this story and chosen to continue to remain secret instead.

    --
    "I regret that I have but one life to give for my country. I'd feel safer if I had two or three."
    1. Re:Military Readers on /. by SrA+Donut · · Score: 1

      It seems like most of my fellow Air Force members that game seem to play MMOs, not FPSs. I have run into many folks on both FFXI and EQ2 that are on the Air side. I guess we just aren't the gung ho shoot em up types...which is why we constantly get shit from the other branches.

  12. Posting from Iraq by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    I'm in the Army and currently deployed in a well-mortared piece of Iraq. I run a small LAN for my platoon for the PC gamers that we have. It usually means around 6 people playing Empire Earth or something like that. I'm more of a twitch gamer, but there aren't enough people into first person shooters in the platoon that are also interested in owning a computer.

    Plenty of people in my platoon enjoy the hell out of Halo, though. So long as our generators and diesel holds out, I'm sure that we'll still have gamers in my unit.

    On to my personal experience, I've been in various gaming clans and my current one has three members that are in the Army and another 4-5 that have gotten out. 1 ex-Marine and a few ex-Navy guys, too. No Air Force guys, although a fair chunk of my buddies that I used to game with every weekend were active duty Air Force (roughly 8 of them)

    I think that gamers are fairly well distributed throughout the services, although the Air Force tends to have more dedicated ones.

    As an interesting aside, most gamers that I've met in the Army are Infantry or other combat arms. Most gamers I've met in the Air Force are in tech fields. I haven't met enough gamers in the Marines or Navy to notice any trend.