The Army is taking the look and feel of the CROWS remote weapons station and putting it on their America's Army video game:
CROWs is a "remotely-operated weapons system." In plain English, it's an automated, unmanned turret that can be operated from inside a vehicle, with the gunner using a joystick for firing and control while looking at a screen that shows visual, infared, or other images from the RWS sensors. The weapon is also stabilized, which means it will adjust automatically as the vehicle it's on shakes and moves. Does that sound like a video game to you? The US Army thought so too...
Acting on that insight, the US Army worked with game developers to put a CROWS module and mission sets into the new version of the hit Pentagon-sponsored videogame/ recruiting tool/ preparation tool "America's Army." Indeed, what could be more logical than using a computer video game to train people on a video game
weapon?
Basic training was never more fun, I guess. And a lot of young men arrive at basic ready to use their play technology to kill our enemies. Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for my Asteroids expertise to be called to service in defense of the realm.
Seriously, this is fascinating. After all the talk from our enemies that we are too soft to fight, we've proven we can go toe-to-toe with the so-called warriors of Islam and rip them a new one.
And to add insult to injury, our video game culture is helping us kill them more effectively. Couldn't happen to a nicer group of mediaeval barbarians.
