More army cash than arms cache
The US military has blown $32.8 million in taxpayer's money over the last nine years on the computer game America's Army, used not just as a recruitment tool but also as a perhaps not so subtle PR ploy, to show - as the website puts it - "the whole world to know how great the U.S. Army is."
Gaming website, GameSpot, recently filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to obtain the true picture of how much cash was actually being ploughed into the project on a yearly basis.
After being told rather snippily that "disclosure of this information is likely to cause substantial harm to the Department of the Army's competitive position in the gaming industry," received the following budget summary:
America's Army year-by-year budget summary
2000--$3,500,000
2001--$5,600,000
2002--$1,862,985
2003--$2,600,000
2004--$3,866,482
2005--$1,288,552
2006--$4,050,748
2007--$2,788,137
2008--$3,887,450
2009--$3,395,702
The first person shooter game also has its own dedicated YouTube channel which includes speacial "training tutorials" created by the Americas Army Mentor Program (AAMP) as well as user generated content.
Perhaps if the military allowed more user generated content, it might be able to cut down on its bills, and the game itself might actually turn out to be more representative and realistic. But who are we to get in the way of national defense and foreign policy?
