Soldier became ace drone pilot by training on video games

[wraggster]

It's a convention sometimes used in action films -- the unlikely protagonist saves the day by applying combative skills he gleaned during his long sessions with teh Haloz -- but it's a convention apparently rooted in reality. In his latest book, Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century, author and modern warfare buff P.W. Singer relates the story of a young man who became an expert drone pilot within a short period of time -- all thanks to the hours he'd logged on his trusty Xbox.

The eighteen-year-old soldier was a high school dropout who failed to qualify for the original position in the armed forces he'd applied for. It was suggested he try his hand at drone piloting, and according to Singer, "because of playing on video games, he was already good at it." So good, in fact, that he was brought back from Iraq to become an instructor at a training academy. Jeez, the only game-related useful skill we've ever picked up is our uncanny ability to name all 493 pokémon, and that impresses far fewer people than you might imagine

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/02/07/so...n-video-games/

[ricosuavez]

i imagine a kid telling his parents he wants to drop out of school to pursue militairy training at home with his xbox...lol

i never liked the army but this would be like almost fun ...:rofl:

[fpcreator2000]

Like Vin Diesel in XXX when he steals a senator's Ferrari, "Senator, don't take video games away! It's the only education we got!"

[Eviltaco64]

Of course, you'll never hear of this on the news. It's only when someone plays Grand Theft Auto III and gets a gun out that you hear anything, and all that does of course is make video games look terrible.

[ChaosCrypt]

Of course, you'll never hear of this on the news. It's only when someone plays Grand Theft Auto III and gets a gun out that you hear anything, and all that does of course is make video games look terrible.

No, instead someone gets to fly a remote drone armed with missiles that kills many more people.

But because he is on the side of "teh good" thats ok.

Of course in this case you have to remember that "teh good" are ac tually illegal invaders in a country that just happens to have a large amount of a resource that if valuable to the liberators.....

So no, not a huge amount of difference really...........