Video games like HALO and Call of Duty may be just pretend, but these shooter games have real-life use for some military personnel. When you sit down in front of your Xbox or PC setup, you’re likely playing to have some fun, relax and unwind, or connect online with friends. For the military though, these games serve a whole other purpose. These digital games can be used to train soldiers as well as keep them in the right mindset for warfare.
Here are some examples of how these first-person shooter games are used to help soldiers train.
Stay in the Combat Mindset
One major use of military video games for training soldiers is to help train off-duty focus. While serving, it is essential to be thinking like a soldier 24/7, even when not on the battlefield. Playing a first-person shooter game can make it easy to stay on guard since the game encourages fast decision-making.
This type of training is also great for soldiers that are not currently on-duty and are back home with their families. While not in training, these games keep a soldier’s focus. It can be easy to relax into the everyday mundane way of off-duty life. This can prove problematic when a soldier returns to the military and must reawaken all those senses. Video games help keep those senses sharp, or at least operating in some capacity. It is the same as stretching on a day off from the gym to keep your muscles limber.
VR Battlefield Training
The rise of virtual reality (VR) gaming led to its use in military training. The immersive aspect of this type of gaming helps soldiers become accustomed to being disoriented, surrounded, or in stressful situations while staying calm and strategic.
Combat simulators are a major way to train soldiers in today’s world. It allows the opportunity to apply skills in a realistic location without putting soldiers in any real risk. Now, new recruits can have field experience before they even begin without any threat of danger.
Learn New Technology
Video games aren’t just for combat and shooting. Digital games are a great way to train new military personnel on the latest tech innovations and gear. This is a way to save money by not having every soldier operate real machinery.
The military commonly uses interactive games or walk-through’s to help train soldiers. Trainees can repair drones, restore corroded parts, and strengthen machinery with VRC Cold Spray Repair Technology much faster than ever before.
Thanks to these digital walk-through’s, today’s military training increases the strength our soldiers and their ability to restore machinery quickly.
Teambuilding
More than anything else, teamwork is an essential skill for military personnel. In emergency or life-or-death circumstances, adrenaline is running. It is important to look out for other fellow soldiers to complete tasks effectively and minimize crucial errors.
It is not anything new for the military to utilize games to help soldiers learn skills. Playing combat video games, which are low-stakes and non-physical, allow fellow soldiers to work together in a recreational setting in a way that bonds them. What once was a room of strangers becomes a team.
The Bottom Line
The military finds new ways to innovate its digital technology every year. The incorporation of video games and virtual reality technology into military training speaks to the importance of this technology, and the variety of opportunities that lie ahead for video game creators and designers.
While video games began as a recreational pastime, they are proving to be capable of building our future.
