Real Warriors Trained In Virtual Worlds

The Washington Post has a piece looking at the U.S. military's increased reliance on gaming for training the next generation of soldiers. From the article: "'The technology in games has facilitated a revolution in the art of warfare,' says David Bartlett, the former chief of operations at the Defense Modeling and Simulation Office, a high-level office within the Defense Department and the focal point for computer-generated training at the Pentagon. 'When the time came for [a solider in training] to fire his weapon, he was ready to do that. And capable of doing that. His experience leading up to that time, through on-the-ground training and playing 'Halo' and whatever else, enabled him to execute. His situation awareness was up. He knew what he had to do. He had done it before -- or something like it up to that point.'"

Comments

Tis true! Video games teach real life lessons

[Average_Joe_Sixpack]

I learned everything I know about women through the Leisure Suit Larry series.

An armchair soldier's perspective...

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, thanks to my many grueling hours of Halo training, my situational awareness and my proficiency with all plasma weapons is markedly improved.

Military better watch out..

[BigZaphod]

..or else Jack Thompson is going to sue their violent-game-promoting asses!

The Geneva Convention will have to be modified...

[Anonymous Coward]

To prohibit spawn camping.

Why just the soldiers?

[STUPiDflY]

Why not just take the entire war to the virtual world then? That would be awesome! "Tonight at eleven we'll have live coverage from the war in Iran. The US Special Forces have cornered the insurgents into de_dust after dominating them 4-0 in a de_dust2 tournament. 12 year old Mikey Thompson who leads the USSF says he's confident about the outcome as the insurgents are all 'camping awp wh0res'."

Re:Hesitation

[MattyDK23]

Ever fire a gun? It's not just the noise, it's the kickback that you need to get used to. Plus actually aiming the damn thing.

I doubt real people will let you friendly-fire them two or three times before they start to get pissed off...

Thank you Full Spectrum Warrior

[Mancat]

When China finally launches nukes at us and commences ground offensive operations, I'll already be fully familiar with military hand signals, squad and individual tactics, and weapon systems. I'll be able to link up with militia and fight for the 'ol Red White & Blue, whithout ever having been in the military in my entire life. I'll be living the survivalist's dream!

All thanks to you, Full Spectrum Warrior!

The two greatest lines from MGS2:

[Money for Nothin']

From IGN:

Pliskin : VR, huh.

Raiden : But realistic in every way.

Pliskin : A virtual grunt of the digital age. That's just great.

Raiden : That's far more effective than live exercises.

Pliskin : You don't get injured in VR, do you? Every year, a few soldiers
                          die in field exercises.

Raiden : There's pain sensation in VR, and even a sense of reality and
                          urgency. The only difference is that it isn't actually happening.

Pliskin : That's the way they want you to think, to remove you from the
                          fear that goes with battle situations. War as a video game --
                          what better way to raise the ultimate soldier?

-- Solid Snake meeting Raiden, referring to that whiny metrosexual on his first mission with nothing but VR training under his belt.

This was simultaneously a very humorous and clever way of smacking the player into realizing that there is a vast difference between war in video games and real war; yet, that the wars of video games assist real-world warriors by desensitizing them to violence... The blunt irony of that conversation was probably lost on more people than it should have been, and I imagine a lot of impatient fools skipped over it as being "just another damn cutscene"...