Would you exchange at least two years of your life for four days to play a video game? That seems to be the idea behind an "incentives" program currently going on in at least one Division within the United States Army.
The U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division, based out of Fort Stewart in Georgia, will grant soldiers a four-day pass to play Grand Theft Auto 6 when it releases in November. To receive that four-day pass, soldiers will need to sign a reenlistment contract for a minimum of two additional years. This contract must be agreed upon between August 1, 2026 and November 14, 2026.
Spokesperson for the 3rd Infantry Division, Lt. Col. Angel Tomko, says, "The idea was to have a unique incentives program that connects to what soldiers are interested in."
So far, there have been 20 soldiers from Fort Stewart who have agreed to take part in this "incentives program." In total, 130 eligible soldiers at the Fort could potentially reenlist and agree to this offer.
Using games and gaming to recruit soldiers is nothing new for the armed forces. In 2002, the U.S. Army developed America's Army as a propaganda tool and as a way to recruit potential soldiers. CBS News points out a couple of more recent examples when the Army has used gaming to try to entice recruits.
The Army's courtship of gamers is not a new military strategy. CBS News previously reported that after missing its recruiting goal in 2018 for the first time in more than a decade, the service began looking beyond the traditional recruiting station and cold-calling young Americans willing to join. Recruiters headed to gaming conventions and the U.S. Army launched an esports team, focused on the popular video game franchise Call of Duty and other multi-player games like Fortnite and League of Legends, to find potential recruits.
In 2019, CBS News' Tony Dokoupil traveled to a sold-out gaming convention in San Antonio where Maj. Gen. Frank Muth, who at the time oversaw the army's recruiting command, said he was looking for the next generation of American soldiers.
In 2019, CBS News' Tony Dokoupil traveled to a sold-out gaming convention in San Antonio where Maj. Gen. Frank Muth, who at the time oversaw the army's recruiting command, said he was looking for the next generation of American soldiers.
