While the effectiveness of America’s Army as a recruiting tool is well documented, in light of the U.S. military meeting all of its recruiting goals for the first time in nearly 40 years, a Christian Science Monitor piece explores the consequences of recruitment devices which “ignore the psychological realities of war.”
America’s Army, the Army Experience Center and a relatively new graphic novel put out by the Navy to foster recruiting efforts among high school students, are promotions—which combined with a down economy and lack of jobs— have made joining the armed forces an answer for more and more young people:
The current recruiting tactics aimed at America’s youth are especially concerning. Not only do the very tactics that have been boosting recruitment sanitize war and create false expectations, they prey upon the vulnerable imaginations of children.
The article claims that the suicide rate among soldiers reached a post-Vietnam War high for the fifth year running.
The author concludes:
To be sure, Vets from World War II and Vietnam had shell shock and PTSD without video game recruitment, but targeting teens with video games and graphic novels that ignore the psychological realities of war is not the way to solve the recruitment problem at a time when the psychological health of those who are sent to Afghanistan and Iraq should be a top priority.
GP: More damning than America’ recruitment tools themselves may be a bit in the article where it’s noted that the Army is short some 300 substance abuse counselors and 800 behavioral specialists. Perhaps taxpayers can fund a new game aimed at attracting those types of personnel to the military.