In this Associated Press photo by Maya Alleruzzo, U.S. Army Capt. Charles Ford plays an unknown video game with Wa'ad, a seven-year-old Iraqi boy who lost an arm and leg to an IED near Muqdadiyah, about 60 miles north of Baghdad. From the AP report:

Soldiers from Hammer Company, 3rd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment are arranging for the child to be fitted with prosthetic limbs.

Via: Franklin Now

Recruiters for controversial Blackwater Worldwide, which provides "paid contractors" (i.e. - mercenaries) to supplement United States forces in Iraq, apparently distribute consoles and popular video games to spread good will among American forces.

That's likely because former military personnel make up the bulk of Blackwater employees. An Associated Press profile on the company notes:

[Blackwater exec] Bill Mathews... said during a recent interview with The Associated Press. "This is sort of the quintessential veteran-owned, -operated and -managed company. Almost everybody is a former U.S. serviceman..."

 

Blackwater recruiter James Overton is working on packing a Microsoft Xbox video-game console, modem, TV projector and "Guitar Hero" video game into a kit that can be kicked out of a Blackwater cargo plane and dropped to troops in Afghanistan.

 

"When I was in Baghdad, we'd bring soldiers over to our camp over there, and we'd play this thing for hours on end," Overton said. "Every (military) place I've ever been to overseas, they've got like backgammon and Parcheesi and chess, and they're all gathering dust. But this is the stuff they play at home. And any semblance of home we can give them is best."

 

Brand Week reports that the US Army plans to wage a game-oriented attack on subpar recruiting efforts.

In August the Army will unveil the first of a new wave of recruitment centers in which prospective soldiers will play America's Army and fly missions in Apache and Blackhawk helicopter sims.

Apple's retail stores and venues like the ESPN Zone are said to be the inspirations behind the new approach. Army official Edward Walters told Brand Week:

In the past we've focused on traditional media vehicles. [But] the millennial generation is used to engaging in interactive assets and we need to adapt to them.
 

From the description, the days of handing would-be recruits a brochure will soon be over:

The first new recruitment center is designed to be less intimidating and more "like walking into a NASA center," said Walters. It will consist of three large simulators with full-scale mock-ups of Army equipment and wrap-around 270-degree video screens...

 

The Apache simulator allows a pilot and co-pilot to experience the aircraft and its weapons systems. The Black Hawk helicopter simulator provides four door gunner positions. And, the armored HMMWV vehicle simulator has positions for a driver and several gunners. The centers also will include an area where visitors can compete in America's Army, a videogame...
 

Via: Gizmodo

Sad news comes out of Taunton, Massachusetts this Father's Day as the Boston Globe reports on funeral services for Army Sgt. Shane Duffy, killed in Iraq:

Duffy, who would have turned 23 next Sunday, was killed June 4 in Tikrit, when his Army unit was attacked by enemy fire. Mourners described him yesterday as a spirited, fearless, caring person who looked forward to raising a family and becoming a firefighter like his father.

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) spoke at Duffy's funeral:

Kerry... recounted how Duffy, on [recent] leave, had joined his family to play the video game "Rock Band," one of his favorites. "Shane [played] guitar with the trademark intensity of a man who wanted to be the best in everything he did in life, and at least for that moment he was Eric Clapton," Kerry said. Duffy's wife played the drums, and he held his rosy-cheeked daughter, Mackenzie, up to the microphone to sing along. "If Shane Duffy was intense, he was also tender," Kerry said.

Sgt. Duffy leaves behind a wife and an infant daughter.

Another member of the gamer generation has fallen while serving in Iraq, reports the Military Times.

US Army Specialist Kyle Norris, 22, a member of the 101st Airborne Division, died on May 23 after his vehicle was struck by an IED in Iskandariyah, 30 miles south of Baghdad. From an Associated Press story:

“He wanted to protect his country,” his brother, 27, said. “He wanted to protect freedom for his family and his friends.”

 

Kyle Norris also loved to spend time with friends, whether it was playing video games or playing a game of paint ball...

 

“If he was sick and they told him to take it easy for a few days, he wouldn’t sit back,” Norris said. “He wanted to be out there with everyone... He was an awesome brother. He was all about family,” said Michael Norris. “Everybody loved him. No one ever said one bad thing about him.”

Via: Connie Talk

With video games now a well-established component of youth culture, it's safe to say that many US troops serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and around the world are gamers.

Here at GamePolitics we've often reported on the relationship between games and the military, a nexus that is sometimes controversial. But whatever one may think about the politics involved, we can all agree that we wish safe passage for our military personnel and honor those who have given their all.

We've made it a practice to report on fallen gamers when we've been able to learn about them from personal remembrances shared by friends and family members. We suspect that there are many more who we don't know about.

Today, Memorial Day in the US, we remember them for their service and their sacrifice.

PICTURED: Eric Hall, George Howell, Randy Pickering, Jon Hicks

 

The New Yorker serves up a video which details how THQ's hit strategy game Full Spectrum Warrior was modified to help Iraq War veterans deal with post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD).

The video accompanies an six-page article by Sue Halpern in the May 19th issue. Halpern also narrates the video. From the article:

Most P.T.S.D. therapies that we’ve seen don’t seem to be working, so what’s the harm in dedicating some money to R. & D. that might prove valuable?” Paul Rieckhoff, the executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said last November.

In January, his group issued a lengthy report called “Mental Health Injuries: The Invisible Wounds of War,” which cited research suggesting that “multiple tours and inadequate time at home between deployments increase rates of combat stress by 50%.”

Rieckhoff went on, “I’m not someone who responds to sitting with some guy, talking about my whole life. I’m going to go in and talk to some dude who doesn’t understand my shit and talk about my mom? I’m the worst of that kind of guy. So V.R. therapy, maybe it will work. We’re a video-game generation. It’s what we grew up on. So maybe we’ll respond to it.”

A badly-wounded Iraq War veteran, missing since February, has been found dead inside a culvert in Charlotte County, Florida, according to Indiana's News and Tribune.

As GamePolitics reported last month, 24-year-old Eric Hall, still suffering from grievous combat wounds as well as post-traumatic stress disorder, fled a relative's home after a session of Call of Duty 4. Hall, who had previously caused a traffic accident in his native Indiana after hallucinating an Iraqi roadblock, may have experienced a flashback of some sort. Relatives report that his combat experiences, which included seeing his best friend decapitated at Fallujah, left him badly traumatized.

It's not clear why Hall crawled 60 feet into the roadside culvert. His motorcycle was found nearby.

Weekend America reporter Adam Allington, on assignment with U.S. troops in Anbar Province, reports that video games are a very popular leisure time activity.

Video game sales are way up [among soldiers]... In a converted Iraqi Republican Guard barracks, Sergeant David Carr and several of his buddies are huddled around a hard-to-find Nintendo Wii.

"We play it when we get off of work almost every night," Carr says... At the moment however, Carr isn't playing a shoot-em-up game. Right now he's got something a little more relaxing, "Hooked! Real Motion Fishing."

GP: This story reminds me that the Fun For Our Troops non-profit organization works to send games and systems to our military personnel serving overseas.

The Telegraph reports on a touching memorial to British soldiers killed while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A virtual military graveyard in an area of SL known as Tribute Island features memorials to about 250 British war dead. Nik Hewitt of lasting tribute, creator of the memorial, said:

We've replicated individual tribute markers to all the UK soldiers and military personnel who’ve lost their lives in the continuing conflicts...

We have seen avatars - characters created by serving military personnel - wandering through the graves looking for fallen comrades.

Yesterday on GamePolitics we covered Miami attorney Jack Thompson's accusation of an unholy alliance between the defense department and the video game industry.

We think Thompson's argument is a weak one.

If there is a truly controversial aspect regarding gaming and the military, however, it typically centers around the use of video games as a tool for attracting impressionable young men to the service. The Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), for example, have protested against the use of the freely distributed America's Army game for recruitment purposes.

That scenario is playing out in Chandler, Arizona today as recruiters sponsor an America's Army tournament. As reported by the Arizona Republic:

Military recruiters are becoming increasingly creative as they work to boost enlistment rates... a local Army recruiting office is sponsoring a video-game tournament that is expected to draw more than 100 people. Recruiters will promote the benefits of the Army as video-game buffs play America's Army... 

Staff Sgt. Morgan Self, a Chandler recruiting officer, told the newspaper:

In the media, all you hear about is soldier's stories from Iraq and Afghanistan. We're trying to put out the word that it's not all about deployment.

The game is more or less just to have fun. If everyone that was playing was actually joining the Army, then recruiters wouldn't have a job.

Arguing against the event was Arizona State University student Rosela Martinez, who considers military video games a form of propaganda:

….another in an occasional series of reports about gamers who gave their all:

The Californian reports that Army private George Howell, 24, died last week in Iraq when an IED detonated beneath the truck he was riding in. From the newspaper account:

[George's sister] Chardell, 33, remembered her brother for his sense of humor, thoughtfulness and love for his family. An outgoing person, George loved playing football and video games, she said...

“Georgie could not find [a job]… so he went into the service,” Doyle Howell said.  “...he was a special kid … I just wish things could have turned out different.”

Also lost: New Hampshire gamer Justin McDaniel, 19, who died in Baghdad.

From a wire service report in the Melbourne Herald Sun:

At Patrol Base Warrior Keep in Baghdad, all wished they were home. However at least there weren't any patrols outside the base for the 101st Airborne Division.

Lt-Col R.J. Lillibridge didn't want to risk having to deliver bad news to families on the holiday.

So instead of patrolling, the soldiers stayed on base, playing Halo video game tournaments, waiting in lines for phones and computers to contact home and sleeping in after breakfast or even lunch...

….another in an occasional series of reports about gamers who gave their all:

A gamer who served his country in the U.S. Army has lost his life in Iraq. The Associated Press reports that Spc. Randy W. Pickering, 31, died Sunday in Baghdad. Randy loved comic books and video games, his brother said:

He did his computer thing. He loved video games. Video games and comics were his life.

On his MySpace, Randy described himself as:

...a young loner on a crusade to champion the cause of the innocent, the helpless, the powerless, in a world of criminals who operate above the law.

Also on MySpace, he listed Mario and Luigi among his heroes.

Rest in peace, Randy...

Training and Simulation Journal Online reports that the United States Army has established a project office to create and deploy video games for the training of soldiers.

Col. Jack Millar director of the Training and Doctrine Command’s (TRADOC) Project Office for Gaming, or TPO Gaming, said:

I haven’t seen a game built for the entertainment industry that fills a training gap, We will focus on the visualization piece of those technologies, not so much the entertainment piece.

One thing about the Army, there's no shortage of abbreviations. Robert Bowen, civilian chief of TPO Gaming, explained the game training concept to TSJO:

Immerse that soldier into a virtual or synthetic environment, then have them conduct a training task, using their SOP [standard operating procedures], and then AAR [after-action review] that capability.

There will be some cool user-side mod ability built in, Bowen added:

While West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green whines about the effect of the PlayStation and other video game consoles on the quality of England's football play, the top general in the British Army has only praise for the "PlayStation Generation".

As reported by icWales, British Army Chief of the General Staff Sir Richard Dannatt (left) praise the efforts of his nation's young soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq:

There is no doubt in my mind that our people, whether from the specialist Air Assault and Commando Brigades, or from the Ground Manoeuvre Brigades are all up to the job.

There was a time when commentators and some more experienced members of the Army expressed concern as to whether the 'PlayStation generation' were up to dealing with the gritty bloody conflict. Our young soldiers, drawn from across British society, are more than a match for what is required of them and I salute every one of them.

The courage, steadfastness and professionalism of our soldiers has been exemplary.

Dannatt made his remarks during an address to the Cardiff Business Club.

Via: Joystiq

There may not be, as the saying goes, any atheists in foxholes.

But there certainly are plenty of gamers.

A non-profit group is hoping to keep those gamers relaxed between missions by collecting games and systems for deployed U.S. military personnel.

As reported by the Bucks County Courier-Times (in GP's neck of the woods, actually), Fun For Our Troops was started by military wife Stefanie Doctor Shea. Sgt. Michael Shea, her husband, was recently deployed for a second tour of duty in Iraq. The Sheas are seen in the photo at left, taken on the day Sgt. Shea left for Iraq.

Choosing video games as the focus of her support efforts was far from a random choice. Before her husband shipped out the couple spent a lot of their down time enjoying the Nintendo Wii at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

Dana Blackman Brady, married to a former Army Ranger, is partnering with Stefanie in the effort to get games to service personnel. She commented:

What [the troops] really appreciate over there are the true comforts of home. The stress relief and the escapism involved in these games, we really think could be beneficial.

We're hoping to get [video games] throughout the year. We don't want to have [soldiers] wait. We do foresee the issues with Christmas. It's going to be a crunch for those games.

Although the Defense Department provides no support to such efforts, the women have worked out a plan for getting the games to the troops. Stefanie Doctor Shea described the program:

We are working on an official website which will allow troops to sign themselves up as recipients or family members can sign them up. They will also be able to tell us what, if any, systems they do have so we can donate appropriate games.

Hopefully the site will be up in the next week or so (we have someone donating their services to build the site).  We are willing to work with all branches of the military but the recipients themselves must be on a deployment.  Our intention is that the equipment we send over will be passed on to troops in the unit that will replace them. 

Donations can be made via the group's website.  

President Bush's recent gaming session with wounded Iraq war veterans in a Texas rehab hospital is not sitting well with some liberal bloggers.

At this point, it's not known exactly which game Bush played. As reported by AFP:

President George W. Bush had a shoot-out with the "bad guys" in Iraq on Thursday, playing a computer game with war veterans that simulates a firefight in Baghdad... Bush tried his hand at the game with two soldiers during a visit to a rehabilitation center in Texas that treats veterans wounded in Iraq.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Bush helped "shoot the bad guys" in a Baghdad neighborhood, albeit virtually... the president saw several "cutting edge virtual reality games" that allow recovering soldiers at the center in San Antonio to simulate riding in a car or boat.

The Huffington Post's bare-bones report on the story generated a thousand comments (although, to be fair, many of those relate to a flame war among HP readers). Meanwhile Exit Stage-left really wigged out:

First, did he wear his flight suit? Just because you play a god blessed video game, you did not fight against the "bad guys" you twit.

It's an insult to the men and women you are sending in to lose limbs and their lives. You playing a video game does not make you a soldier, you giddy moron.

...For [military personnel killed in Iraq] there was no restart button, the bullets were real, you don't get any "life packs" or supercharged powers. You don't play in an air-conditioned room with tons of admirers/donors watching your every move.

GP: Let me say right up front that - my opinion - George W. Bush is a freakin' disaster as President. But c'mon. The troops - many of whom have lost limbs - were rehabbing and enjoying the game. What's the problem? Bush has plenty of real issues over which he can be criticized. Let's not manufacture one from a few moments of game play.

The Entertainment Consumers Association - the only advocacy group exclusively for gamers - is supporting U.S. military personnel by offering discounted membership. The military discount joins a similar program already offered to students.

Of the move ECA president Hal Halpin said:

We’re excited to extend our 25 percent Student Discount for annual membership dues to all active service men and women with a valid .mil domain extension.

It came as a result of conversations between GamePolitics regular and ECA member, Robert “lexfor” Kalal, who was promoting the association to his fellow gamers in the Air Force while stationed in Turkey.

While we’re aligned with several charities that support the troops, it seemed apparent that extending this discount was yet another way of honoring their service and dedication. The new Military Discount offers prospective members reduced dues of just $14.99 per year.

For more information, including how to sign up for an ECA membership, check out the ECA website.

Full Disclosure Dept: The ECA is the parent company of GamePolitics.  

A back-from-Iraq Marine talks about his love of gaming in today's New York Times.

Jeffrey Barnett, who was deployed to Fallujah, is also the author of a blog called The Midnight Hour. For the NYT he writes:

In addition to being an engineer, new homeowner, and seasoned curmudgeon, I also moonlight as a gamer. I started gaming almost as soon as I could hold a controller. My father purchased an Atari 2600 in 1981, the year I was born...

Video games get a lot of negative press for supposedly promoting, condoning, and even conditioning violence in gamers...

On one hand, I can see how a player might gradually decrease his human inhibition towards violence and killing through repeating the act in a video game. On the other, I think the vast majority of players understand that what is acceptable in the game world may be unacceptable in the real world...

I think steak knives and swimming pools pose a greater threat to children [than video games], but nobody is trying to restrict adult access to those tools...

GP: The NYT readers provide interesting and lively commentary to Barnett's piece. Worth a read.

Via: Kotaku