America's Army game approaches five million downloads

To date, about 6,000 Soldiers have registered to carry the star and have achieved a sufficient level of standing in the game to have the star associated with their game personas. When these Soldiers play ""America's Army: Operations," the star identifies them to other gamers as Soldiers who can provide actual Soldier stories to other gamers through an integrated player-chat tool.

Players now host Internet game fan sites around the world. They provide more than 1,500 community game servers to host online play. Given this level of activity, it is not surprising that 29 percent of young Americans ages 16 to 24 report that "America's Army" is one of their leading sources of positive awareness about the Army.

"'America's Army' has exceeded our expectations and proven the value of games as a medium for communicating Army messages," said Bob Strahler of the U.S. Army's Brand Group at the Pentagon.

Recruiters are now using the game in local tournaments to spark the interest of potential recruits. They also incorporate the game in their delayed-entry program to sustain enthusiasm of new recruits through organized tournaments and competitions. In this way recruiters can use the game to emphasize the importance of teamwork, leadership and communication in the Army.

"The game works so well because it brings out the kind of young men and women we're looking for, (being) competitive, motivated, people who want challenges," said Dale Terry of the Pittsburgh Recruiting Battalion.

The America's Army Web site also provides a ready resource for those interested in hosting or creating game events. At this site recruiters, Soldiers and anyone else interested in hosting a game can obtain the necessary information and resources. Those resources include banners, game disks and tournament prizes, as well as access to support staff to assist in creating, managing and publicizing events.

"One of our key goals is to ensure that the game represents a current view of the Army and its operations," said Christopher Chambers, deputy director of the project. "There is a great deal of interest in special forces, and we built the SF version to bring more attention to units that are in high demand in the war on terrorism."

The recently released "America's Army: Special Forces" is the follow-up to "America's Army: Operations", which was released on July 4, 2002. In "America's Army: Special Forces", players attempt to earn Green Beret status by completing individual and collective training missions drawn from the Special Forces Assignment and Selection (SFAS) process

...continued