Computer games liven up military recruiting, training.

• Author: Kennedy, Harold

Computer games--which entertain millions of U.S. teenagers--are beginning to breathe fresh life into military recruiting and training.

Earlier this year, for example, the U.S. Army launched a new computer game--called "America's Army"--over the Internet.

Aimed at encouraging teens to join up, it enables players to experience both basic and advanced training, join a combat unit and fight in a variety of environments, including arctic Alaska, upstate New York and a third-world city.

Players can fire on a rifle range, run an obstacle course, attend sniper school, train in urban combat and parachute from a C-17 transport.

The game accurately depicts military equipment, training and the real-life movements of soldiers, said Lt. Col. George Juntiff, Army liaison officer to the Modeling, Virtual Environment and Simulation (MOVES) Institute, at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., which developed the game.

"America's Army" features sound effects by moviemaker George Lucas' company, Sky Walker, and Dolby Digital Sound. In addition, sound effects from the movie "Terminator II" were provided at no charge.

The game is getting considerable attention. During its first two weeks, more than a million Americans downloaded the game for free, Juntiff said.

"That's an enormous number," he said. "It's the largest release in computer game history."

Even more people are likely to acquire the game starting in October, Juntiff said, when the Army was scheduled to begin distributing it as a free CD set to a target audience over the age of 13. The developers plan to upgrade the game every month to attract new players, he said.

Actually, "America's Army" consists of two separate games--"Soldiers," a role-player based on Army values, and "Operations," a shooter game that takes players on combat missions. It was developed and distributed at a cost of $7.5 million by MOVES and the U.S. Military Academy's Office of Economic and Manpower Analysis at West Point, N.Y.

The computer game is a "very cost-effective" way to reach potential recruits, especially compared to television advertising, said Maj. Chris Chambers, OEMA deputy director. "It is also a more detailed means of showing the American people what we do."

The game also puts the Army in a positive light, said Juntiff. "It lets people know the Army is high-tech. It's not what they see in the movies."

The game, in addition, raises ethical issues, Juntiff said. "The game sets rules of engagement, and if you violate those rules, you pay the price."

Once they enlist, recruits, these days, can expect to encounter computer games throughout their military training...