Soldier became ace drone pilot by training on video games

by Griffin McElroy { Feb 7th 2009 at 6:00PM }

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.

Tags: army, drone, pw-singer, soldier

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

ill trooper @ Feb 7th 2009 6:07PM

In the book it even talks about how he landed the drone on the Hudson river after a goose tried to fly up and hump it! Amazing tale of courage!

Ok, I made that part up.

snarfoogle @ Feb 7th 2009 6:51PM

The Hudson River, two years ago.

That's a CYPHER, a type of UAV...

cloud858rk @ Feb 7th 2009 7:21PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_Cypher

Looks awfully weird o.0

Dave @ Feb 7th 2009 6:13PM

Damn, can you really name all 493? The farthest I could remember was up to like 95. Now you made me wanna start memorizing all of them again. It's a good thing we've got Wikipedia these days.

Mazrael @ Feb 7th 2009 6:19PM

I only need about 50 more & I'm done.. but I find it difficult to not play the 360.. so I'm getting no closer...

Dave @ Feb 7th 2009 6:28PM

LOL Pokemon: Halo Version

UltimateQ @ Feb 7th 2009 6:13PM

I have an RC Plane just like that one!

Karen @ Feb 7th 2009 7:15PM

So does my husband, he's pretty good at flying it too. It's a Hobyzone Aerobird Swift.

Sir Buzz Killington( The Artist formerly known as Jakka) @ Feb 7th 2009 8:15PM

...if you know what I mean?

Jonman @ Feb 7th 2009 6:16PM

I've claimed for years that years of playing driving games before learning to drive made me a better driver. The first time I was driving a car that lost grip and started to spin, I instinctively steered into the skid, as honed by years of playing games.

zuburi @ Feb 7th 2009 8:44PM

If you did it before you learned how to drive, how can you say it made you a better driver?

Gun Barrier @ Feb 7th 2009 6:29PM

1. Drop out of school
2. Play Halo
3. ?????
4. Profit!

rohan @ Feb 7th 2009 7:14PM

lol

Ad-Man @ Feb 7th 2009 7:36PM

3. Join the army?

BigD145 @ Feb 7th 2009 8:04PM

3. Fail the Army placement test, which happens to be really f*ing easy.

John P @ Feb 7th 2009 6:37PM

Only one quote applies here:

"They gave you your choice of duty son, anything, anywhere. Do you believe that shit? Where do you think you wanna go?"
"I was thinking of being an instructor, sir"
"Top gun? God help us."

DiggyStyle @ Feb 7th 2009 10:48PM

Crash and burn man, crash and burn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCTJmXrgsFg

ZeitgeistXIII @ Feb 7th 2009 6:40PM

I saw a drone or prototype on the Military channel and they used a 360 controller even so this is not really a big surprise. The days of no soldiers in vehicles is coming perhaps if not already here. Next are the robot overlords! ;)

Spiza @ Feb 7th 2009 7:35PM

I know they have used PS2 controllers where I work for the navy.

Whocares @ Feb 8th 2009 11:05AM

the brittish army use 360 controllers for this sort of stuff, bomb squads as well

ZeitgeistXIII @ Feb 8th 2009 12:01PM

Well I sure hope they make sure the connection is lag free. I would not want them to accidentally hit their on troops.

BigD145 @ Feb 8th 2009 4:31PM

Why couldn't we have just jammed a wire in Shrubya's head and sent him into the desert to singlehandedly fight his enemy?

Charlie_Six @ Feb 7th 2009 6:44PM

This is exactly what we were talking about in a previous Joystiq story...

Anyway, I'm surprised a high school drop out, who failed to qualify for his original position, was given the opportunity to try drone piloting. I was under the impression that drone piloting was for higher tier recruits.

Joe H @ Feb 7th 2009 8:14PM

I guess that means they'll do anything they can do to keep them from having to send him back home.

mike @ Feb 7th 2009 6:49PM

Nothing like remotely killing people you don't even know for a government whose motives you will never be sure of. Hurray war!

cloud858rk @ Feb 7th 2009 7:14PM

Yeah, drones don't necessarily have to kill people. Things like reconnaissance exist.

dronesensor @ Feb 7th 2009 8:06PM

heh. just think of the bump in recruitment the army will see when the 10 year-olds who play COD4 all day come of age. after being indoctrinated during their formative years to believe how every war the U.S. conducts is for noble and justifiable causes, now they get to experience an addictive, highly competitive simulation of it from their very own bedrooms.

Popfrogs @ Feb 8th 2009 1:55AM

I can't wait to the see the leaderboards for US vs. Iran next year.

WiredKnight @ Feb 7th 2009 6:59PM

So....Ace Combat FTW?

HippoHero @ Feb 7th 2009 7:06PM

I hope no one gets the idea to run for mayor after going on a Sim City spree.

Bailers @ Feb 7th 2009 7:11PM

After each kill he paints a red ring on his monitor.

Maick @ Feb 7th 2009 7:23PM

18 yr old kids
Playing war games in Iraq
Not old enough even to buy a drink
Killing people must require less responsibility

Spiza @ Feb 7th 2009 7:37PM

I bet this guy was drinking in Iraq, but I agree. We do need to lower the drinking limit.

Spiza @ Feb 7th 2009 7:32PM

If you talk to the DoD employees who work with human systems integration (HSI), they will tell you that the incoming soldiers who have had a lot of video game experience adapt much more quickly to the systems.

Jonman @ Feb 7th 2009 7:52PM

Again, this is another claim of mine - playing games is honing the skillset for rapid assimilation of complex audiovisual data.
Games futureproof yourself!

MakAttack @ Feb 8th 2009 12:10AM

Bet y'all didn't also know that studies have shown surgeons who have video game experience are also better at the arthroscopic surgery that is increasing in prevalence.

aj @ Feb 8th 2009 3:04AM

We've got high school dropouts who can't pass a remarkably easy test not only fighting for our freedom, but actually teaching new recruits?

....And you know this guy is going to get out of the army and get some high paying job because he's got "army" on his resume, and the kid with the BA will have to keep on working at Taco Bell. Jesus God, this is the most depressing thing I've ever read.

xGeneral DEATHx @ Feb 8th 2009 11:11AM

It definitely seems to devalue the BA/BS in the eyes of the reader, but the guy has a honed skill, and that's really what the military is looking for. That being said, even more depressing news will come when they lower the age of voluntary service, and you find out that they're hiring drone pilots who aren't even old enough to have completed high school. ;-)

He probably had to beg and plead with his superiors until they were blue in the face and just caved and let him take the pilot-in-training tests.

johndude333 @ Feb 8th 2009 7:32AM

As a veteran of the Iraq war I can say that war isn't all about killing people. COD4 is nothing like real life. The only people who may even have something close to that experience are soldiers, marines, airmen, and sailors in special operations. There are firefights but it's never a one man team going and killing everyone in the area. I went out on hundreds of combat missions and never once shot at anyone but plenty of times I was shot at and blown up. I lost 2 great soldiers, and fathers, in my unit due to real life bombs. There are no respawns in real life.

As for the guy not getting the job he wanted, it may have been unavaliable. I got a GED and scored a 98/100 on the ASVAB and have a GT score of 125/135. They told me I could have any job I wanted but wouldn't give me the one I requested because I dropped out of high school. Any educated person must know that a diploma is a piece of paper, not a general aptitude test. Sure there are idiots in the Army but this guy sure doesen't seem to be one.