U.S. Army arcade hopes to attract urban recruits

The New York Times: The U.S. Army has opened a $13 million video arcade in Philadelphia's Franklin Mills Mall that it hopes will become a model for recruitment in urban areas. The Army Experience Center features shoot-'em-up video games, Madden football and three full-scale simulators, including an AH-64 ApacheLongbow helicopter, an armed Humvee and a Black Hawk copter with M4 carbine assault rifles. The three simulators play out missions to support the delivery of humanitarian aid in Iraq or Afghanistan. The facility, which opened in August, is the first of its kind and replaces five smaller recruitment stations in the Philadelphia area, at about the same annual operating cost. Since it opened, about 35 visitors have enlisted, slightly below the previous recruitment rate at the five smaller stations.

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