The US Army Plans to Use Fortnite and Other Esports to Boost Recruitment
You are probably aware that US military branches participate in a number of sports. Some of these include basketball, marksmanship, swimming, track sports, wrestling, parachuting and more. Now, one branch is moving with the times. The US Army esports team will play Fortnite and other popular games as a recruitment effort.
Be All You Can Be With Army Esports
The goal of the new US Army esports program is to attract more young recruits. The announcement is on Reddit. Poster SSG Meaux explained, “We are actually in the process of standing up two new competitive outreach teams — an Army eSports team and an Army Functional Fitness team.Both teams will be part of the Marketing and Engagement Brigade based at Fort Knox.”
Fascinatingly, if you become a member of the US Army esports team, it will be more than just an activity you are doing on the side. It will be a job. SSG Meaux writes, “Soldiers on both teams will travel to various events and compete for the Army. The outreach team members will receive the same pay and benefits as other Soldiers of equal rank across the Army.”
It’s a pretty surreal thing when you think about it. We will now have real soldiers going through full training that would make them effective on the field IRL who will be “playing soldier” along with the rest of us.
It is easy to run with this in our imaginations. Soon, we could picture other countries forming esports teams to compete with the US team. Before you know it, we could be settling international conflicts in Fortnite instead of on the real-world battlefield.
Okay, so that probably won’t happen. But in Mesoamerica, ancient civilizations actually did settle disputes that way in their ball courts instead of fielding their soldiers. It would make for a strange future if we did come full circle.
You Can Sign Up for the US Army Esports Team Now
Getting back to the real world, we already know that Fortnite will be one of the games which team members will be playing. In the comments, SSG Meaux stated, “We’re currently working the finer details on the harder games such as Fortnite, to get the most effective way to rank players.”
Along with participating in esports, members of the team will assist the Army with beta testing simulation and training programs as well as apps. Pretty darn cool, if you ask us.
Want to try out for the team? Click here, and you will find a sign-up for active duty, reserve members and veterans. Not in the Army, but want to know more? There is also a link there you can use to request more info. So go and sign up if you are up for the challenge, and keep up with the rest of our Fotnite news.