U.S. Army recruiting at the mall with video games

Why do you need to constantly advertise everywhere you can think of? you REALLY think people are gonna forget the army exists, and those who may have joined won't join anymore because they just FORGOT or "never heard of" the army? Please... There's no need for all this damn military advertising. It's just wasting tax dollars. How the hell do you fancy up war and make it 'attractive'?

Oh, yeah, if I serve I can get 40,000 for college... IF I don't die on the way back to the U.S.

It's funny. This is probably the ONLY country in the world that has its military advertise ON TV and even go into high schools to recruit unsuspecting teens for more bogus wars. It's kind of sick, if you ask me. War is not a game. It shouldn't be treated so lightly by the gov't. No normal civilized democracy or republic goes to war as often as we do! We've wasted so many lives with this crap. Let's just come home already and let all those other nations defend themselves for a change. I'm tired of this world police bullshit. It further entangles us and doesn't guarantee safety. The terrorists don't "hate us for our freedom." They hate us because we're over there! We're only creating more terrorists by staying over there. And now we're building embassies and permanent bases in Iraq and Afghanistan! WTF is that all about?

I doubt these Afghan or Iraqi "democracies" will succeed. Those nations just don't have the cultural or societal infrastructure!! You can't just impose a gov't like that on a nation that's not ready. It has to have something like an Enlightenment of its own before it can become democratic and survive. God, what fools we are.

Man, we're only embarassing ourselves with this bullshit. The world's civilized democracies, true democracies anyhow, must be laughing at us for how goddamn militarist we are as a society. We praise EVERY vet, no matter what they did or didn't do, as a "hero." That stupid label is just foisted upon them no matter what, as if it's IMPOSSIBLE for a veteran to be a jackass. If you served in the military, you "served your country", as if it's impossible to serve it any other way, like community service, running for office and enacting legislation that makes people's lives better and expands freedom, or fighting for freedom with the help of groups like the ACLU or Institute for Justice.

Fuck off, militarists. I'm sick of these bogus wars that do more to hurt our reputation and security than defend us. Hardly any war we've been in since WW2 was justified if you ask me. Even Afghanistan is looking to be a big mistake in retrospect, esp. since we STAYED instead of just leaving and letting the newly-freed Afghan people take back their own country.

I love that one navy or marines commercial: "You'll do more in your service than most people do in a lifetime." Uh... what? What exactly does that entail? I'm pretty sure anything I'd do in the Navy is probably not a whole lot of what I wanted to do in a lifetime. That's just such a misleading phrase right there.

If only the Army would be honest and quit making new recruits think it's all sunshine and rainbows and shit. It's NOT! It's war, for christ sake. If you wanna sign up, fine. But don't try to tell me it's all fun and games and use a VIDEO GAME designed for ENTERTAINMENT as a recruitment tool. That's just sick.

I mean, in real life there's no pause button, for one thing.

Lol! This is just absurd. Doesn't the Army already do enough recruiting and advertising on TV, in magazines and AT HIGH SCHOOLS?? For god sakes, now they reserved their own fucking space at the mall?? Yeah... that's what I wanna see. A fucking army recruiting center right at the place I shop. Thank God I don't live in Philly. And why does the army need its own store or "center"?? Don't they already have plenty of recruiting places across the country, as well as all that damn stupid-ass advertising making serving seem like a walk in the park?

Do any of you people even know a soldier? Do you know someone that has deployed to Iraq?

Im thinking probably not, because you people are throwing down some really fanatically bias shit right now. You should base your opinions on something other than war movies and Micheal Moore.

In my day, it was John Wayne movies. Same bullshit, though. But soldiers are treated WORSE than toys---- they're pawns and victims, of skewed foreign policy, of wars of greed, of experiments. Sad thing is, a voluntary army can work GREAT, but you can't take over the world with one, and this is what's happening: we're (the gov't, not the PEOPLE) trying to take over the world. There's already an economic draft and a back-door draft; an official draft would only add to and prolong the misery.

Stay out of the malls!

Does the Army experience at the mall include treatment for Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder? How about reintegration therapy after you loose your legs or get 70% of your skin burned away? Of course not. That part of the "game" isn't fun.

This pisses me off.

WAR IS NOT A GAME

SOLDIERS ARE NOT TOYS

Why is this a surprise to anyone? Video games are a growing media. It would be stupid for the military to NOT take advantage of that fact.

I don't think the video game includes suicide bombing, PTSD, and fellow soldiers dieing in your arms. The army is not glorious or anything. It can have heroic moments, but especially in something like the Iraq War, things can be horrific.

I don't think the article explains that the staff at the facility don't approach and actively recruit. They answer questions and yes, they will get you started towards enlistment if you ask, but they don't pressure anybody to serve or give up contact information or anything. If someone is going to join the Army, they aren't going to do it because of this center.
If someone wants to join the Army because of video games, I highly doubt it would be because of this center. There are far more numerous and better 'war' video games on the market that do much more to convince someone to become a soldier.
Finally, before anyone starts hating on recruiters or the Army, remember that they are only doing their job - and it is a very stressful job. The Army -MUST- recruit a certain number of people or they are in violation of federal law. It is -illegal- for them not to recruit. That law was created by representatives selected by the American people. So the only people we really have to blame for recruiters is ourselves.

Let the conditioning begin!

Pareo Nullus

Fine with me, I'll ignore the propaganda and milk 'em for all they have. This isn't actually designed for recruitment so much as circuses for the masses. People are worrying too much about the economy, which is the reason the economy is so bad to begin with. Nobody is buying anything because they're all too scared.

might as well get the ones that are hooked on video games too. they go in thinking they are going to play world of warcraft...and end up in a desert getting shelled by iraqis.

I've played the game and it sucks.

It is a good idea though.

As people start to wake up and realize that the american military is a corrupt, borderline terrorist organization that allows their female members to be raped by their male members while they murder innocent people during illegal occupations aimed at stealing natural resources it gets harder and harder to convince people to join.

They have already lowered their standards for new recruits. They need to find ways of attracting these new low standard morons to go be war criminals.

A video game , even a lame one, seems to be a good choice.

It's funny this article came up today. My girl was at the mall last night and saw an ROTC stand and came home and told me about it. I really don't know how I feel on the subject. It doesn't really bother me that the army recruits. And it just makes sense that in the digital age they are using things like video games to draw people in. I saw a clip on G4 a little while back that showed a new tank that is literally controlled by an Xbox controller. Thats the army of the future. Unmanned aircrafts, remote control tanks, cyber soldiers.....and the internet generation is more then prepared for the task with little training necessary.

One more reason for a draft. There is nothing wrong with a citizen volunteering to serve their country. It would be better if they could serve in some other capacity but any capacity should be considered a patriotic duty. Recruiters have always used some form of deception. Mine told me about the swimming pools, tennis clubs, and gyms. He failed to mention that they are for the officers stationed at the bases. We will see an upturn in volunteers because of the economy. When you graduate the options are basic ones. Your choices are pretty much limited to more school, a job, prison, or the military. Yeah the tactics they use to recruit are lousy but they always have been. With a draft you circumvent these practices. Also, with a draft the people making decisions about going to war would be less likely to send their own sons and daughters off to fight and die.

There was a whole new strip of military (Army, Navy, and some two other bullshit categories) in two of the malls in Houston. They need more easily brainwashed kids to go and fight fairy tale wars so that the elite can profit and enjoy playing god.

I wonder how many "lives" you get when you die in the military video game.

I hope those video games show a realistic death by IED and how to cope with PTSD... That's such a misleading was to recruit... but oh well, only the dumb ones are going to buy into it.

I dont understand how the military can be blamed for this.. the government yes, the military, uh no. They only do as ordered.

GTA has been recruiting criminals for years. VIDEO GAMES ARE TAKING US ALL TO HELL!!!! RABBLE!!!!

God, I hate all of you so much. It doesn't seem like any of you have the slightest clue as to what military life is like, other than what you have seen in the media. Nobody is pointing a gun to these kids' heads and forcing them to sign up. If I had my way military service would be required for a couple of years before you could gain citizenship. Maybe then we would have a nation full of disciplined citizens, as opposed to what we apparently have now, which is a bunch of people complaining about how awful the military is. Make love not war? Give me a break. Take a hit of atropine, I'm not sure you people have a pulse.

people need to stop blaming the military for the mistakes of the politicians that direct their orders.

+1 Make Love not War!

Do they have a real life death simulator too? Or a flesh wound simulator? Or a shoot a man in the head point blank simulator? Or a tortured by enemy combatant simulator?

I hope all our soldiers a safe return and hope peace for their families. But this is flag to which our armies protect.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/J20_corporate_flag_dc.jpg

America's Army (I mean, the game www.americasarmy.com) has existed since a while and got a big base of players (including actual army soldiers)

They've been doing this for a while! There is a video game called "America's Army" (http://www.americasarmy.com/)
that is officially sponsored by the US military.

"Army uses Video Games to Recruit young men and women"

What do you expect them to recruit, the elderly?

I was wondering when this would happen. Hopefully the UK won't follow.

Make Love not War

Sad part is that most of the kids that they recruit won't realize that war is not like a video game until they actually get over there.

hmmm one section of the mall i won't be going to!!

I was wondering why I couldn't find any of America's "best and brightest".

They're all at the mall playing video games.