SERIOUS GAMES AND THE MILITARY Presented by Dana Elhertani

Army Invested $50M in Combat Training Games "The Army takes this seriously,” -Lt. Col. Gary Stephens ( Product manager for air and ground tactical trainers at Project Executive Office)

Plan of Action for This Presentation ■Military’s use of serious games in terms of: –Recruiting –Training ■Field Training ■Cultural and Language Training

Recruiting ■America’s Army, was developed as “serious game” to be used as recruiting tool. ■The America’s Army project was catalyzed by the failure to reach the Army recruiting goals 1999; Congress decided to increase the Army’s recruiting budget by more than $2.2 billion per year ■Top Army officials were looking for a way to reach out to potential recruits with minimal cost.

Recruiting- Breaking Barriers ■"We want kids to come into the Army and feel like they've already been there," -Col. Casey Wardynski ■Even go through training in the beginning –

Recruiting- Breaking Barriers

Recruiting- Results ■No statistics about how many people have joined the Army because of the game ■Recruiters have used the game, however, to get people to come to them. – America's Army is the subject of gaming tournaments around the country, giving recruiters an opportunity to interact with people already familiar with Army basics and might be more apt to join. ■In the first three years it was released: – Nearly 5.4 million users had registered on the game's Web site. –More than 2 million users had passed through basic training in the latest version of the game, which focuses on the Special Forces. –Had been downloaded 20 million times.

Recruiting – America’s Army Controversy ■Contains partisan bias –Down plays or excludes negative facets of the Army.

Training- Field

Training- Field Full Spectrum Warrior ■Squad based game ■Developed by the University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies ■Developed as a training aid designed for the U.S. Army.

Training- Field Full Spectrum Warrior ■The story feels incredibly realistic. (UI) ■You control the division, not an individual member. ■The game is much more of a real time strategy game than it is a shooter game ■The missions are objective based, having you moving from one side of the map to the other, all the while using real military tactics to advance. ■You can’t actually shoot the enemies. ■Actual feeling of connection to your soldiers. ■Every action has a consequence, the game delivers a gritty, intense, and stressful combat that will make you think through your decisions.

Training- Field Full Spectrum Warrior ■

Training- Field V*I*C*E ■Virtual Interactive Combat Environment ■VICE is designed to immerse Soldiers in realistic scenarios in which each of them gets their own station, complete with a large video screen, and they can be led through any number of different situations. ■Soldiers control what they do using Xbox-like controllers built into their weapons, ■Everything that happens is recorded in real time on a computer system that their sergeant can monitor to make sure they're doing what they need to. ■Afterward, everything about an exercise can be reviewed in minute detail, all of which is helping the recruits who use it be better prepared when they finally get outside, onto real training grounds.

Training- Field V*I*C*E ■

Training - Cultural and Language Training Bilateral Negotiation Trainer (BiLAT) ■ A 3-D software simulation designed to provide an immersive and compelling training environment to practice skills in conducting meetings and negotiations in a specific, cultural context

Conclusion ■Military has spent a lot of money for serious games ■Used the money to make all sorts of serious games for recruiting and training. ■Military is only advancing in incorporating serious games.