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Wired News July 31, 2003
Kill Troops' Off Hours
In-Depth Coverage
By Noah Shachtman
Just out of high school, thousands of miles from friends and parents, and isolated by language and culture from the people around them, young airmen stationed on a U.S. Air Force base in Europe can find life pretty lonely.
But now the military's fresh faces can get a bit of the comforts of home -- by wasting their pals in an online shoot-'em-up game.
U.S. Air Forces in Europe, or USAFE, is investing about $200,000 into networked gaming centers at 14 bases scattered across the continent. All told, more than 100 Microsoft Xbox game consoles will be purchased, giving thousands of airmen a familiar new option for their downtime.
"Everything is so different here. So it's nice to have a taste of what (airmen) are used to -- a taste of America," said David Quinn, who heads the USAFE's Community Activities branch. "This is a way to get them out of the dorms, to keep them from sitting and staring at four walls."
Phillip Carter, a former Army officer who led soldiers in Korea, added in an e-mail, "Young soldiers and airmen in their first assignment overseas can be less than a year out of high school. Playing video games may not seem like a lot, but it can really mean a lot to someone who's that young and away from home for the first time."
Quinn's goal is to link up each of the gaming centers with high-speed Internet connections, and to organize Europe-wide Xbox tournaments. But such hookups will take months to complete -- if they happen at all. And several of the centers won't be open until the fall, at least.
The game rooms that already have opened -- in places like Lajes Field, in the Azores islands off Portugal -- are being mobbed by eager airmen.
"It's taking off like a rocket. There have been big waiting lines since right after it opened," said Ian Foster, who's in charge of Lajes' community center.
Foster has four game consoles, connected to 29-inch TVs, in a room festooned with Xbox-inspired art. He's bought 66 games already, and recently received a $5,000 grant to purchase more gear. Interest has been so high that airmen now have to register in advance to play. Time limits of an hour on the gaming consoles have been cut to 30 minutes.
In the past, the military's quality-of-life initiatives have focused on the married soldier or airman, noted John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org.
"They've had a hard time keeping single service members entertained when not on duty. But as we shift from a peacetime to a wartime military, you're going to have a lot more single service members. And if you just turn 'em loose at 5 o'clock, they're going to come home with the clap," he said.
But the game centers were not an edict from on high to deal with hell raisers. The push for games came from the airmen themselves, said Mandy Smith-Nethercott, a USAFE spokeswoman. At Spangdahlem Air Base in southwestern Germany, an airmen's committee -- designed, in her words, to "get them out of their dorm rooms, and into something new" -- made Internet gaming its No. 1 priority.
After the 12 Xboxes installed at Spangdahlem became immensely popular, a decision was made to roll the consoles out to the other 13 bases.
The move was made without consulting Microsoft, said Xbox product manager David Hufford. But USAFE's Quinn told Stars and Stripes that the Xbox Live service, which enables online play, convinced him to buy the consoles for the stations. Each base is buying its own selection of titles for the consoles.
For years, the military has trained grunts using video games. And recently, the Army put together a sophisticated series of simulated missions designed to recruit new soldiers. That game, America's Army, has attracted more than 1.8 million registered users.
Lt. Col. Casey Wardynski, who oversaw development of America's Army, sees the Xbox gaming centers as more than just the digital equivalent of comfort food for teenage airmen. The games could be used to build skills, too -- after all, a recent study showed that gaming boosts visual perception.
"It seems perfectly logical, given what this generation does," Wardynski said. "Airmen can hang out in their barracks, or they can partake of German beer. Given the alternatives, this may not be a bad choice at all."
Kill Troops' Off Hours
In-Depth Coverage
By Noah Shachtman
Just out of high school, thousands of miles from friends and parents, and isolated by language and culture from the people around them, young airmen stationed on a U.S. Air Force base in Europe can find life pretty lonely.
But now the military's fresh faces can get a bit of the comforts of home -- by wasting their pals in an online shoot-'em-up game.
U.S. Air Forces in Europe, or USAFE, is investing about $200,000 into networked gaming centers at 14 bases scattered across the continent. All told, more than 100 Microsoft Xbox game consoles will be purchased, giving thousands of airmen a familiar new option for their downtime.
"Everything is so different here. So it's nice to have a taste of what (airmen) are used to -- a taste of America," said David Quinn, who heads the USAFE's Community Activities branch. "This is a way to get them out of the dorms, to keep them from sitting and staring at four walls."
Phillip Carter, a former Army officer who led soldiers in Korea, added in an e-mail, "Young soldiers and airmen in their first assignment overseas can be less than a year out of high school. Playing video games may not seem like a lot, but it can really mean a lot to someone who's that young and away from home for the first time."
Quinn's goal is to link up each of the gaming centers with high-speed Internet connections, and to organize Europe-wide Xbox tournaments. But such hookups will take months to complete -- if they happen at all. And several of the centers won't be open until the fall, at least.
The game rooms that already have opened -- in places like Lajes Field, in the Azores islands off Portugal -- are being mobbed by eager airmen.
"It's taking off like a rocket. There have been big waiting lines since right after it opened," said Ian Foster, who's in charge of Lajes' community center.
Foster has four game consoles, connected to 29-inch TVs, in a room festooned with Xbox-inspired art. He's bought 66 games already, and recently received a $5,000 grant to purchase more gear. Interest has been so high that airmen now have to register in advance to play. Time limits of an hour on the gaming consoles have been cut to 30 minutes.
In the past, the military's quality-of-life initiatives have focused on the married soldier or airman, noted John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org.
"They've had a hard time keeping single service members entertained when not on duty. But as we shift from a peacetime to a wartime military, you're going to have a lot more single service members. And if you just turn 'em loose at 5 o'clock, they're going to come home with the clap," he said.
But the game centers were not an edict from on high to deal with hell raisers. The push for games came from the airmen themselves, said Mandy Smith-Nethercott, a USAFE spokeswoman. At Spangdahlem Air Base in southwestern Germany, an airmen's committee -- designed, in her words, to "get them out of their dorm rooms, and into something new" -- made Internet gaming its No. 1 priority.
After the 12 Xboxes installed at Spangdahlem became immensely popular, a decision was made to roll the consoles out to the other 13 bases.
The move was made without consulting Microsoft, said Xbox product manager David Hufford. But USAFE's Quinn told Stars and Stripes that the Xbox Live service, which enables online play, convinced him to buy the consoles for the stations. Each base is buying its own selection of titles for the consoles.
For years, the military has trained grunts using video games. And recently, the Army put together a sophisticated series of simulated missions designed to recruit new soldiers. That game, America's Army, has attracted more than 1.8 million registered users.
Lt. Col. Casey Wardynski, who oversaw development of America's Army, sees the Xbox gaming centers as more than just the digital equivalent of comfort food for teenage airmen. The games could be used to build skills, too -- after all, a recent study showed that gaming boosts visual perception.
"It seems perfectly logical, given what this generation does," Wardynski said. "Airmen can hang out in their barracks, or they can partake of German beer. Given the alternatives, this may not be a bad choice at all."
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