Serving in the Virtual Army: Military Games and the Civil-Military Divide

Abstract

Over the past two decades, many scholars have reported a deep division between the American military and the civilian population—a division that is partly caused by civilians’ lack of knowledge of the military and its personnel. During this same period, critics of military entertainment have argued that military video games, especially those developed by the Army, are militarizing the American public. This essay provides a brief overview of this new formulation of the fusionist view of military video games. It argues that America's Army, a game produced and distributed by the Army, may help to bridge the civil–military divide.