US Army Woos Youth With Virtual Violence, but It Could End in Brutalization, Warn Critics

by Gopalan on  December 21, 2008 at 12:43 PM Mental Health News
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The Army Experience Center, located in the Franklin Mills Mall just north of Philadelphia, supposedly a "state-of-the-art educational facility,” seeks to woo youth through stomach-churning mayhem, though virtual. It could all end up in brutalizing impressionable minds.

"Potential recruits are afforded a unique opportunity to learn what it means to be the best-led, best-trained and best-equipped Army in the world by allowing them to virtually experience multiple aspects of the Army," says Pete Geren, Secretary of the Army.

The centre uses “interactive simulations and online learning programs to educate visitors about the many careers, training and educational opportunities available in the Army."

Behind a glass wall, there are 40 more terminals facing a wall of plasma screens: the Tactical Operations Center, where local educators (principals, superintendents, school counselors and teachers) are given an earful about how misunderstood the military is.

"Accurate information about the military experience is often drowned out, or the information that does get through projects mixed messages or inaccuracies," Lt. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakly recently complained to the Northeast Times. "The Army Experience Center provides hands-on, virtual-reality experiences and simulations for young men and women, their parents and others to see, touch and learn firsthand what it means to be in the Army."

Penny Coleman anti-war veteran writes angrily on Alternet: “There are no mixed messages at the AEC: being in the Army is about getting to play with boy toys, 24/7. Freakly's tidy version of "what it means to be in the Army" fails to mention what can happen if your Humvee hits an IED, or how it might feel to be splattered with your best friend's insides. Or your own.

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