Table Of Content

America’s Digital Army Anthropology of Contemporary North America series editors James Bielo, Miami University Carrie Lane, California State University, Fullerton advisory board Peter Benson, Washington University in St. Louis John L. Caughey, University of Maryland Alyshia Gálvez, Lehman College Carol Greenhouse, Princeton University John Hartigan, University of Texas John Jackson Jr., University of Pennsylvania Ellen Lewin, University of Iowa Bonnie McElhinny, University of Toronto Shalini Shankar, Northwestern University Carol Stack, University of California, Berkeley America’s Digital Army Games at Work and War Robertson Allen University of Nebraska Press Lincoln and London © 2017 by the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska Acknowledgments for the use of previously published material appear on page xii, which constitutes an extension of the copyright page. All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Control Number: 2017937445 Set in Charter by John Klopping. Men are born for games. Nothing else. Every child knows that play is nobler than work. . . . But trial of chance or trial of worth all games aspire to the condition of war for here that which is wagered swallows up game, player, all. cormac mccarthy, Blood Meridian Contents List of Illustrations viii Acknowledgments xi 1. America’s Digital Army 1 2. The Art of Persuasion and the Science of Manpower 39 3. The Artiﬁce of the Virtual and the Real 63 4. The Full- Spectrum Soft Sell of the Army Experience 89 5. Complicating the Military Entertainment Complex 115 6. The Labor of Virtual Soldiers 147 Notes 167 Glossary 177 References 181 Index 193 Illustrations Following page 88 1. In- game marketing image for the “Alley” level 2. Outside entrance to the Office of Economic and Manpower Analysis 3. Tommy Rieman and John Adams being interviewed by Susan Roesgen 4. Reference photo used by America’s Army level designers and artists 5. The reference photo’s in- game application in the “Ranch” scenario 6. The front cover to issue 8 of the America’s Army Graphic Novel series 7. sfc Gerald Wolford, in digital, plastic, and photographic representation 8. Tommy Rieman’s Real Hero action ﬁgure 9. Exterior view of the vae Alpha at the Indianapolis Air Show 10. A mock- up life- size Humvee inside the vae 11. Drill sergeants provide entertainment for visitors waiting in line 12. Tommy Rieman and John Adams sign free copies of the America’s Army video game viii 13. A typical gaming scenario at aec computers 14. Advertisement for the Army Experience Center 15. Ignited poster advertising the release of America’s Army 3 16. America’s Army arcade game 17. America’s Army video game developers at mini Basic Combat Training 18. Image from the development office the day of the layoffs illustrations ix