British Army recruits gamers to pilot dusty Apaches
by James Ransom-Wiley 
{ Jan 9th 2007 at 12:23AM }
According to the UK's Sunday Mirror, the British Army is actively seeking out veteran gamers for military service. Senior officers have descended upon schools, hoping to recruit an GameSpot notes that the British Army is desperate to train a squadron of pilots capable of handling a fleet of 67 Apaches that were ordered back in 2002 (for more than $4.5 billion). The training program has been delayed for nearly three years, and most of the Apaches remain in storage.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Geoff @ Jan 9th 2007 12:56AM
The military want to fill places with teenaged gamers? Wouldn't they all be going to war arguing about health packs and who gets the shotgun? If they lost, they'd just blame the n00bs on their team.
Sorry, but this is as bad as Jack Thompson's assertions that games cause violence. Just because I can complete Gradius without using all my lives, doesn't mean I can take part in a helicopter assault on Iraqland. All it means is that I have good hand-eye coordination, and a reasonable memory.
Foetoid @ Jan 9th 2007 12:51AM
In other news: James Nobody, a professional Wii Sports player, has been drafted into the US Open Championship against Pat Rafter in the opening round.
Seriously tho, are they that desperate for pilots?
buba @ Jan 9th 2007 2:48AM
I'm still waiting for the mouse and keyboard controlled tank.
alexanderwales @ Jan 9th 2007 1:08AM
How much xp do the missions give?
Mike @ Jan 9th 2007 3:48PM
haha... The above two comments aside, gaming actually teaches you the essential skills to operate most of today's computerized machinery.
It's also of note, playing FPS's make surgeon's a lot better at their job.
Daniel Armstrong @ Jan 9th 2007 1:17AM
OMG Sign me up! My dream is to fly an apache!
mikehc @ Jan 9th 2007 1:49AM
Headshot...Pwnd!!!!...Headshot...Utra-Kill...Rampage!... ohh you n00b!
flyguy @ Jan 9th 2007 1:35AM
Wow. A lack of pilots...but no lack of Apaches? Interesting. The Apaches have been reliable and very useful in the war in Iraq, but sand and those damn surface-to-air rockets/missiles (from us, the US, and the soviet-era back in the day) have really hampered operations.
I guess you still have to become an officer just to be considered to fly it like you do in the states.
Geoff @ Jan 9th 2007 1:39AM
No - the UK bought a bunch of Apaches a while back, but never got round to training pilots for them. It was a bit of a scandal, as we (that is, the UK, not me and some other people) couldn't really afford the Apaches in the first place.
Milquetoast @ Jan 9th 2007 10:22AM
When I was young - maybe 12 or so, my grandma pulled some strings with friends and my cousin, sister and I got our own personalized tour of a National Guard Apache. Those things are seriously cool. The gun turret follows the gunner's helmet movements, so it looks where he looks. Lots of cameras and buttons and screens. Hell, aside from maybe, uh, dying, flying an Apache wouldn't be so bad a deal.
Oh, and to prove that I wasn't a little badass, I do remember freaking out a little when they turned on the engines. You know. A little.
FSK405K @ Jan 9th 2007 2:25AM
Actually, flyguy, either the news or the Joystiqery of it makes it seem you can fly the Apaches BEFORE going to college: "hoping to recruit an elite l33t team of Apache pilots...with the promise of university scholarships (after service)." So I guess they must mean graduate education scholarships?
And this is probably the Brits' greatest idea since, well, Yorktown. Just like in Robin Williams' Toys, they're looking to use the people who are already good at this stuff. Obviously, they still would have to go through officer accessions, flight school, and their branch training, so it's not like they're handing the cockpit keys to gamers outright.
deeps @ Jan 10th 2007 5:21AM
How many lives do you get? Are power-ups available?
Spakkenkhrist @ Jan 9th 2007 8:27AM
I completed Gunship 2000 on the Amiga, where do I sign for my Apache?
Flavio @ Jan 9th 2007 8:42AM
Ahhh...finally something to make me believe that my 10.000.000 hours of simulator flight time is actually useful. But hey, who wants to fly old apaches? Come on Brits share some of that Eurofighter love with us!
Ian O''Rourke @ Jan 10th 2007 2:00PM
I believe it's been noted for a while that as modern combat get more and more electronic, even down to the gear the average foot soldier will be carrying, that the gamer generation will be the best soldiers, pilots, etc.
Something to do with certain skill sets used in games, not just things like reactions times but coming with numerous fast moving bits of information sources, etc.
Mike @ Jan 9th 2007 4:46PM
Sorry my post above #13, was supposed to be #3, but Joystiq's horrible mailing system took over 10 hours to send me a confirmation email.
Hollatchaboy @ Jan 9th 2007 8:22PM
Since I beat Airwolf on NES and Airwolf is the greatest military helicopter ever do I get a signing bonus? My only requirement is the theme song plays the entire time I fly a mission.