Pixels and Grids

“War. War never changes.”

Fellow PNG’er, Jeff Siefer, wrote an interesting article in support of the multi-million dollar establishment of The Army Experience Center at Franklin Mills Mall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is definitely, undoubtedly, worth a read. Ever the loyal opposition, I had much to say. Follow the break for round two in Pixels and Grid’s most sociopolitically relevant article series yet! And yes, it’s still relevant to video games as well! We’re Americans before we’re gamers though, aren’t we? Hello? Aren’t we? Nevermind. Jump into round two of the discussion!

As an avid lifelong student of military history and someone who regrets not applying to West Point immediately after high school graduation, I’ve enjoyed this opportunity to think about one of the major questions concerning the subject of war: what is the totality of the human experience of war?

To use examples from the simulated scenarios present at the Philadelphia AEC:

Is it just riding in a humvee with your battle brothers?

Or is it also having that humvee rocked by the explosion of an I.E.D. and bearing witness to the horrible tragedy of friendly casualties?

Is it just crewing a black hawk and scanning the ground for hostiles while zipping along in the sky?

Or is it also hauling the mutilated wounded and dead onboard while returning fire into a densely populated urban environment?

It is just sitting behind giant control screens and data read-outs stationed offshore or off-site and directing missile strikes and attack packages?

Or is it also the heavy burden of leadership knowing that there is a significant risk with any action that you take that there will be a human cost on both sides.

What about Wilfred Owen’s “Army Experience” in a war almost a century ago:

Is it the hard-fought glory of the American Marines’ victory at the Battle of Belleau Wood when the gunnery sergeant screamed, “Come on you sons-of-bitches, do you want to live forever?!”

Or is it also British soldier Wilfred Owen’s personal experience of retreating from heavy artillery bombardment and gas attacks? Is the fourth verse of his poem, “Dulce et Decorum est”, part of the experience too:

“If in some smothering dreams you too could pace

Behind the wagon that we flung him in,

And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,

His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,

Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues”

Because if you can say that all of these things are part of the Army Experience too, then they should be included in the simulators which, as you claim, are meant to be realistic training tools for the possible recruit to play. It might make them less enjoyable or entertaining, but that’s beside the point: they’re representative of the army combat experience. Would I include those things into simulators for the already enlisted? Probably not. They need the simulators to focus on the instruction of tactics, strategy, skills, and techniques. They’re not using them for the rest of the “experience”. They nobly LIVE the rest of the experience.

Do you know why they’re not playing Call of Duty at the AEC? Because it wasn’t developed to be instructional, but entertaining. It was developed to be “realistic” entertainment. How many times have you beaten a level in any of the Call of Duty installments by yourself without relying on your squad mates or support? Many times. Do you know what would happen if the Army used Call of Duty to recruit young men and women? Amongst other things, we’d be living in a strange, bizarro, twilight zone world where the movie “The Last Starfighter” could be a documentary. We’d also have soldiers like me using tactics like “spray N’ pray, hoard the ammo, run n’ gun, etc.” and the Geneva documents would have to be updated to address the issue of “tea-bagging”. I’m kidding. But, seriously, that’s ridiculous. It’s just like you said, infinite re-spawns really wouldn’t create realistic expectations for a potential recruit.

Did you really get what Wilfred Owen was saying when he wrote:

“My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory,

The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est

Pro patria mori.”

The AEC isn’t glamorizing war; they’re just not relating to potential recruits the whole experience. That might otherwise not be so inexcusable, but it is, given the fact that they’re advertising it as being THE Army Experience. I’m not saying that before the AEC that the recruiters sat down and told the recruit all about the ghastly horrors of war, of course they didn’t. But at least then it was an issue that was possibly implied, but mostly omitted. Otherwise, we’d have very few recruits. And, you’re right, that’s a real problem.

If you can readily admit to yourself that the fourth stanza of his poem, or an experience like it, is part of the average experience of a combat infantryman, then you’re saying you really wouldn’t have a hard time telling a thirteen year old kid playing at the AEC that, “It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country”?

I would be all for the AEC if I thought that it was being used for new, already enlisted recruits to get a taste of what was to come. But if there are kids in the mall who instead of going to put coins in the arcade are going to play war games for free at the AEC and are not even within a year of enlistment age… well, that just seems messed up. The sergeant in the video you provided says that the simulators are the biggest attractions and that they are being “enjoyed”. They must not be completely realistic then, huh? Would thirteen year old children enjoy the reality of war or military experiences?

Is anyone really saying, “We don’t need people to fight for our rights”?

Is anyone really saying “We’re not thankful for the brave men and women that defend our country”?

That wouldn’t just be naive, but it would also be absurd.

One commenter in the discussion wrote, “It’s the height of naïveté to believe the world would be better without the incalculable service our armed forces perform…”

As impossible as an ideal as it may seem, is it difficult for someone to believe that a world with LESS WAR would be a better place for all humanity?

People aren’t criticizing the Army. It’s comprised of our courageous sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, and friends, who play a necessary and vital role in keeping our country, and our world, a safe place to live. People are criticizing militarism.

I’m assuming that part of the reason why some people (that are quick to generalize) are so highly critical of the Islamic fundamentalist “world” is because they associate it with the militarism of certain countries, such as Iraq under Saddam Hussein. Is it wrong then for Americans wary of militarism within our own country to exercise their rights and protest against it?

Or does that somehow make them seem “unpatriotic”?

Thomas Jefferson writes:

“Most codes extend their definitions of treason to acts not really against one’s country. They do not distinguish between acts against the government, and acts against the oppressions of the government. The latter are virtues, yet have furnished more victims to the executioner than the former, because real treasons are rare; oppressions frequent.”

The protesters aren’t protesting against the Army itself, but rather against this SPECIFIC instance of Army recruitment policy and method. Don’t conflate the two.

I would be more ok with the AEC if they just made the whole thing only available to potential recruits eighteen years or older or the recently enlisted.

I have visited the Army recruitment and the Marine Corps office twice in the past three years to ask questions and gather information. If they had these simulators, it may have been what sealed it for me. Not because I was ready to do so or because it had become a priority for me, but because it would have played up to what I have always loved about the military and war as an academic subject. I love tactics and strategy. I hold the virtues of honor, sacrifice, duty, and courage, above all others. Nevertheless, I think I would make a terrible soldier. I have authority issues. Maintaining discipline can be a struggle for me. The simulators wouldn’t have shown me or told me those things.

Regardless, and THIS MAY BE THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT I HAVE TO SAY, thank you to all the brave men and women who have served and continue to serve our country, both at home and overseas. You truly are paragons of virtues that are quickly becoming lost in our society and culture. I have the utmost respect for what you do and the causes to which you have dedicated your lives.

Sincerely, thank you.

I eagerly await the Experience Peace Center. Seriously.

These opinions are my own, and if you disagree, that’s more than all right. That’s America!