Full Circle Warrior

Full Spectrum Warrior has traveled full circle. In 1998 the Army created a $45 million dollar research program, based at the
University of Southern California. The Institute for Creative Technologies was
a unique partnership between Hollywood studios, game companies, university
researchers and the Army. The idea was the gamers wanted realistic war
simulations, while the Army wanted realism for training its soldiers. This
convergence led to a tool used by the Army to train young squad leaders to make
critical decisions in the chaos of urban combat- Full Spectrum Command.

In 2004, Full Spectrum Warrior, a modified version of the infantry
training simulation became available at retail. Warrior eschewed some of
Command’s realism, while adding graphical polish. It quickly became a critical
and commercial success.

Four years later, Full Spectrum Warrior is now being used by
the Department of Defense in its Virtual Iraq clinical trial. According to a
recent study from the RAND Corporation, about twenty percent of our veterans are
suffering from Post Traumatic stress disorder (or PTSD). Current efforts to
reduce the symptoms of PTSD have been fruitless so far. As Paul Rieckhoff, the
executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, stated:

I’m not someone who responds to sitting with some guy,
talking about my whole life. I’m going to go in and talk to some dude who
doesn’t understand my shit and talk about my mom? I’m the worst of that kind of
guy. So [Virtual Iraq] therapy, maybe it will work. We’re a video-game
generation. It’s what we grew up on. So maybe we’ll respond to it.

Patients within the Virtual Iraq program use a modified
version of Full Spectrum Warrior on a VR headset, along with headphones and a
scent-producing machine, to recreate the Iraqi environment. It’s a process
called immersion therapy, or prolonged exposure therapy, and it is designed to put
the patient back in the hot zone. By reliving and revisiting the place of
trauma, the user slowly overcomes the power of the event.

While
Virtual Iraq is still in its clinical trials, its initial results appear
promising. A number of servicemen who suffered from PTSD, are showing a
remarkable decrease in symptoms after using the simulation. After years of
hearing how video games are endangering the lives of Americans it’s refreshing
to hear about a game that pivotal in saving lives.

About Robert Allen

Since being a toddler, Robert Allen has been immersed in video games, anime, and tokusatsu. Currently, his days are spent teaching at two southern California colleges. But his evenings and weekends are filled with STGs, RPGs, and action titles and well at writing for Tech-Gaming since 2007.

18 comments

  1. Great article. Support the troops with Games!!!!

  2. The DOD needs to help our serviceman and women anyway they can. If games can do it, so much the better.

  3. Bring the troops home NOW! that way we won’t have to use games as therapy, they can be for recreation.

  4. Saw this on Digg, and have to comment. Its so sad that U.S. Imperialism has led to this, video game therapy.

    STOP the WAR!
    http://www.moveon.org/

  5. George W. Bush

    I gave up golf for our boys, but I can’t give up my videogames!!!

  6. We can’t afford shrinks anymore? Jeez, go fight a war, get shot at, and then come home to game therapy using an untested, possibly cruel method.

    Had a hard time in Bagdad soldier? Let me put you back there, private!!!

    Real nice.

  7. Me thinks from the comments, we’re going to have a democrat president in 09.

  8. After two tours of the ‘Raq, 1 hour of Call of Duty 4 puts my ass to sleep.

    While I don’t suffer from PTSD, I know plenty of guys that do. Theirs 2 camps; one that have to play games like Rainbow Six and others who can’t look at the shit. It’s weird.

  9. I played FSW, and don’t feel ready for any battlefield.

  10. Forget about these virtual war games. Give the troops Wii Fit!! They get strong! SMASH TERRORISTS into puny camel dung!!!

  11. This site seems pretty pro-war. Sad, maybe you’re playing too much COD4.

  12. This site seems too pro-war. Maybe you should play less COD4 or something. Try Katamari Damacy

  13. unlickedcub, are you saying the navy/air force/marines/army are overweight?

    They should get in shape like the coast guard!!

  14. Support the troops, wussies!

  15. My brothers in the Army. He didn’t choose to go to war, in fact he’s against it. But the fact is where committed for the next four years at least, he says.

    PTSD is going to be a growing problem.

  16. Nice to see/hear about technology helping people.

  17. I think what solider need is more yoga. That’s why I recommend Wii Fit. They can start out the say doing “The Tree”. It will help build flexibility and a strong center of gravity in their bodies. 🙂