In an effort to find new recruits, the U.S. military has created the Military Gaming League, an ad hoc esports organization
For the first time in over a decade, the U.S. Army has failed to meet its goals for new recruits. According to published plans, the U.S. Army would like to recruit 500,000 new soldiers over the next four years, but in the first year things went differently than expected.
So, the military leadership thought it was time to update its image. It’s not a completely new idea: in an episode of The Simpsons a few years ago, the U.S. Navy focused on a boyband made up of Bart, Milhouse and other Springfield kids to attract attention among the very young. In reality, however, the U.S. military will have to engage in esports tournaments in the hope of gaining publicity and identifying some good prospects to enlist. Which game to choose, if not Fortnite?
Why the U.S. Army is looking for Fortnite players
The Epic Games title, according to the U.S. Army’s top brass, has all the right cards to get in touch with the younger generation and find new prospects to enlist. Fortnite can count on millions of gamers throughout the United States: a very large audience within which to pass a more youthful image of the Army and among which to choose the possible recruits best suited to the new challenges that await the U.S. armed forces.
For this reason, was created the Military gaming league, an organization that can join only staff of the military striped stars and retired veterans. Already in the past few months, members of the military gaming league have participated in a Street Fighter V tournament, organized and hosted inside a military base in Washington state. The goal, now, is to train soldiers who know how to play Fortnite and identify the fighters (real and not virtual) of the future.