In July of 2002, the Army turned on the servers for the America's Army game and watched as thousands of gamers rushed to download our America's Army: Operations RECON version. Since then, more than 9 million players have registered to join the America's Army experience. These players have participated in over million hours of online play exploring Soldiering as members of elite U.S. Army units. These devoted fans catapulted America's Army into the top five online action games at its launch and have kept America's Army in the top ten on the charts ever since.

The development of the game has been an incredible journey for everyone involved -- from the project sponsors in the Pentagon; to the staff here at West Point who run the game; to our Soldiers who have been instrumental in making sure the America's Army game realistically depicts their world; to our developers who get hands on with the Army's technology and weapons. Though the America's Army teams are spread across the country, we are united in our goal of creating a virtual portal into the Army and providing a first hand look at what it is like to be a Soldier.

The game has exceeded all expectations by placing Soldiering front and center within popular culture and showcasing the roles training, teamwork and technology play in the Army. Over the past few years, in more than twenty updates and new game versions, we have opened the world of Soldiering to players and provided them with a soup to nuts virtual experience within which to explore entry level and advanced training as well as Soldiering in small units. We have virtually taken our players through boot camp, Ranger and Airborne training, and even introduced them to the Army's "Quiet Professionals", the elite Special Forces. Through America's Army, players have learned about rules of engagement (ROE), lifesaving, laws of war and Army Values, the set of noble values that are the foundation of the world's premier land force. In the game, successful completion of our unique ABC's of Lifesaving scenarios qualifies players to assume the role of a medic. In real life, this medic training provides fundamental first responder skills. We've heard of several cases where America's Army players have called upon these skills to save lives.

The Army and its developers have won more than 15 awards and accommodations for America's Army. However, what has brought the team the most satisfaction is hearing from the fans and Soldiers who play it. The America's Army fans are incredibly supportive of our efforts, from setting up their own servers, to actively participating in our forums, interacting with our developers and establishing more than 900 fan sites around the world. We would like to give our heartfelt thanks to these players and our promise that we will continue to provide them with the best and most realistic virtual Soldier experience.

U.S. Army Soldiers have written and called us from around the world to tell us about their America's Army game experiences. They speak of the game's realism and attention to detail, noting how accurately the game's training environments mirror the training ranges from Fort Benning to Fort Jackson down to the placement of the trees to the layout of the obstacle course. Numerous Soldiers have told us how they are able to share their Army experiences with fellow gamers. These Soldiers proudly display their Army star icon in the game, and enjoy answering other players' questions about Soldiering. Soldiers who play America's Army speak of the support and encouragement they have received from America's Army fans worldwide. On behalf of the America's Army game project, we would like to thank these fans for supporting our Soldiers as they fight for freedom and liberty around the world.

Today we are working on new technologies, platforms and themes to broaden and deepen the America's Army experience. We will continue to expand the careers covered in the game while adding technological enhancements to intensify the immersive Soldier experience the game affords. As the game evolves, it will expand in richness and detail in terms of the number of resources players can bring to bear in virtual training and operational missions. When appropriate we will work with our government applications teams to incorporate new military technologies into the game to give players a look at the current and future armaments used by our Soldiers. Just as the Army is a dynamic organization, the game will continue to be a dynamic platform for learning about the Army and Soldiering.

On behalf of the U.S. Army, the members of the Army Game Project staff look forward to sharing new virtual Soldier experiences with you over the coming years. God bless America.

- The America's Army Game Leadership Team

In November 2007, members of the Army Game Project (AGP) traded in their keyboards and mice for M16 rifles and Interceptor Body Armor to learn what it takes to be a Soldier in today's high-tech Army. They spent five days completing simulated Basic Combat Training (BCT) at Fort Jackson, South Carolina so they can provide you with the most authentic Army game ever, America's Army version 3.0. The Mini-BCT allowed members of the America's Army Game Project team to get a glimpse of what it takes to turn a civilian into a U.S. Army Soldier.

The bus ride to Fort Jackson was filled with nervous chatter as, despite being given a copy of the five day schedule in advance, none of the AGP team knew exactly what to expect. They would soon learn, however, that the rigorous training schedule was to be followed to the letter.

Brandon Foster, a developer for America's Army who goes by the nickname "CPT Murphy", was anxious not knowing what was in store for them.

"Going into this I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. I knew we were going to be receiving some form of BCT, but I didn't know how they were going to administer it. I sort of went in expecting the best, but preparing for the worst. Thoughts of R. Lee Ermey style Drill Sergeants scared the hell out of me..."

For others in the group the simulated training they were about to receive seemed preposterous - as though it were all part of an Army propaganda campaign.

"I used to smirk inside when I heard the phrase 'Army Values'", thought Inhaesio Zha, a programmer for Pragmatic Solutions. "I'm a political leftist still shaking my head at why the American people by and large accept an unsubstantiated Al-Qaeda link as reason enough to occupy Iraq."

The next five days would change the way most of the team felt about the Army and its Seven Core Values.

After arriving at Fort Jackson, the group was taken to a reception hall where they signed necessary documents and waivers and received soldiering manuals. This was also their first introduction to the Soldier's Creed:

I am an American Soldier.
I am a Warrior and a member of a team.
I serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values.
I will always place the mission first.
I will never accept defeat.
I will never quit.
I will never leave a fallen comrade.
I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills.
I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.
I am an expert and I am a professional.
I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.
I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.
I am an American Soldier.

The group was told to memorize the Soldier's Creed and warned that they would be asked to recite it, as a group, on the demand of the Drill Sergeants. They would later learn the price of failing to recite the Creed perfectly. During the next few hours, the newly formed "Bulldog" platoon was issued ACU uniforms including boots, caps, physical training gear and a two quart canteen. The value of the two quart would soon be realized as training was about to begin on the Fit To Win obstacle course.

The Fit To Win course is a grueling series of obstacles that each Soldier must navigate as quickly as possible. Going over walls, under logs and barbed wire, through low tunnels and sand pits, up and down high cargo nets, and hand over hand across overhead ladders, the Bulldogs experienced their first taste of the rigors of Soldier training. During Fit To Win, they also lost their first member, at least temporarily, who dropped from sheer exhaustion and required medical attention. This would not be the last member who would not complete the training. Everyone quickly realized that the next few days were not going to be easy.

Critical to a Soldier's success in training are the Drill Sergeants who instruct the platoon on virtually every action they take throughout the day. The Drill Sergeants taught the AGP team how to stand in formation, come to attention, march as a unit, make their bunks and even how to carry their drink cups in the dining facility (DFAC). The Drill Sergeants require perfection and demand instantaneous compliance. After just one day at Ft Jackson, Zha's impression of the Army was already changing.

"For a week, I put aside my politics," Zha said, "I turned down the corners of my bed sheets at 45 degree angles, tucked my pant legs into my boots, wore my headgear at all times when outside (and never when inside) and generally did exactly what Drill Sergeant McClintock and First Sergeant Dobos told me to do. Not only did I do what they told me, I did it instantly."

Foster learned the hard way that even speaking to a Drill Sergeant had its own protocol and that some tasks given to the platoon were designed to result in no possible satisfactory solution.

"There is no arguing with the Drill Sergeants or validating your actions." Foster recalled, "They are always right. They will even purposely create situations where they contradict themselves just so you have no choice but to screw up no matter what you do and accept your punishment."

These types of impossible tasks are necessary to teach the Soldier to keep trying as hard as he possibly can regardless of physical or mental barriers, and drives home the line in the Soldier's Creed, "I will never quit".

Over the next several days, the Bulldogs fell into a schedule of waking up at 0430 and quickly preparing themselves for all manner of training, including: physical training at 0500, the Engagement Skills Trainer (where they fired specially outfitted M16 rifles in a virtual scenario simulation), basic marksmanship with the M16, Victory Tower, and U.S. weapon range where they fired M240B, M249 and .50 caliber machine guns.

One of the more unique training exercises was the Keep In Memory (KIM) drill. While the Bulldogs were eating breakfast the Drill Sergeants hid 27 "suspicious" objects in the small field just outside the barracks. Each squad was taken outside and given 10 minutes to scan the field and record as many objects as they could find. This exercise is designed to increase the Soldier's awareness of objects that seem out of place. This is a crucial skill to learn considering the deadly threat Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) pose in hostile environments.

A member of the Project's America's Army - Emeryville team that develops the game, Eli "Octavian" Maffei, located the most objects in the platoon -- a total of 14. First Sergeant Dobos then walked the field pointing out all 27 objects. The Bulldogs were surprised to find several of the unnoticed objects in plain sight and some just a few feet away from them. The realization that the objects could be so close and go undetected had a sobering effect on the group.

One of the final exercises was Military Operations on Urban Terrain (MOUT) training. The MOUT exercise was conducted in a mock urban village complete with actors dressed as indigenous personnel, wrecked vehicles, and foreign music blaring from loud speakers.

Brandon Foster recalls,

"The purpose of the MOUT site is for Soldiers to train in urban tactics in a variety of different scenarios, be they peaceful or more aggressive. We received a mission briefing and training about how to clear a room, how to safely enter and exit once it had been cleared, and what we were supposed to do when we started taking fire. Our platoon's mission was that of a humanitarian patrol. Because the actor playing the mayor of the village spoke Arabic, our platoon leader had to negotiate through a provided translator. His job was to get permission for us to enter the town in a sort of fact finding capacity. Do they have adequate food and water? Are they being harassed by insurgents?"

During the inspection of the village a sniper struck at the platoon. The Drill Sergeants told some platoon members that they were wounded and ordered the remaining squads to evacuate their fallen comrades.

"Everything felt so real," Foster remembered. "It felt like our actions needed to be perfect so no part of the platoon would be left unsupported. It was a real rush. 2nd and 4th squads finished clearing the buildings and the whole platoon fell back to the tree line where we set up a perimeter as everyone made their way back."

Having successfully completed their training, the Bulldog Mini-BCT platoon, on their last evening, graduated in an open field in the center of which was a large projection screen flanked by flaming barrels. As the company commanders spoke of their accomplishments a slide show of photos taken by the Drill Sergeants and others was presented on the screen. The photos recounted the platoon's past five days.

As they stood at parade rest, the members of the AGP team reflected on their experiences over the past few days. They had learned the importance of discipline and teamwork, of never quitting and never leaving behind a fallen comrade. Most importantly, however, they all learned something about themselves and found strength they never knew they had.

Inhaesio Zha summarized his feelings this way:

"What I see is this. The Army is a beautiful machine, in the same way that a flower or a leopard is a beautiful machine. It has an aim and it accomplishes its aim perfectly.

Our Mini-BCT platoon chose as its motto "Strength From One, Strength For All" in honor of the Army value "what matters is not the success of the individual, but the success of the team." When my comrade helps me by giving me a piece of cord, it's not because he likes me, it's so I can use it to build my hutch, It's because of the life-and-death situations for which the Army trains; when one Soldier falls, the effect on his comrades can be fatal.

In the corporate world, we train and operate in quite different type of situations. What is appropriate among comrades in the Army is not exactly what is appropriate among corporate comrades. The most glaring failure that I see in the types of teams that I work in, that is addressed both by Army values and by forward-thinking schools of software project management, is a disregard for the together-we-stand, divided-we-fall nature of group work (and of life in general). I would like to see more, from myself and from everyone I work and live with, understanding of our interlocking nature. My boss tells me that one of the ways he determines the success of an employee is that everyone around that employee is succeeding. How can I succeed without helping my superiors and co-workers succeed? How can they measure themselves as successful while accepting (or contributing to!) my failure?

The life-and-death nature of war makes it critical that Soldiers obey this law. In our non-military operations, we would benefit by following it more closely than we typically have."

THEN & NOW
- A review of the last 7 years

On July Fourth, 2009, the America's Army online PC game celebrated its 7 year anniversary. It was first unveiled at (E3) in Los Angeles as America's Army: Operations and immediately generated a flurry of attention starting with a front page story in the L.A. Times. The development had successfully kept the project secret which resulted in a huge surprise for many. The America's Army booth at the Electronic Entertainment Expo was swamped the entire show with media and droves of gamers who lucky to grab a glimpse of the new free game from the U. S. Army. Most came with rather low expectations of the project since it was both free and from the U.S. Army. They didn't expect us to be able to come through with a top-notch game. What most didn't know was that the Army had gathered its own game industry veterans to become its new public game development team with the goal to build a high quality product worthy of everyone's attention. With this new game, large numbers of people could gain exposure to the real Army without relying on Hollywood or other military games for their perception of what the Army is and how it operates. Who better to talk about the U.S. Army than the Army? And thus began one of the most effective outreach tools ever created.

We had always wanted people to forget the fact that the game was free and judge it solely by its merits. As game developers, we wanted a highly immersive environment with accurate weapon and character models, compelling in every aspect with realistic animation, first-rate sound design and engaging mission maps. Gameplay, while fun and entertaining was designed to be conducive with Army Values. It was also the first game to come out on the Unreal 2 Engine and we were proud to have achieved a distinct look and feel that played well in medium.

America's Army has always been in a very unique position. While the game started off well in many aspects, we've always striven to make it better since its debut. A large part of game development means dealing with a wide variety of challenges and obstacles, and this project is certainly no different than the standard game industry in that regard. With over twenty releases to date and another coming soon, fans have seen the additions of many new features and map missions. We've had the opportunity to constantly evolve the game and improve upon various elements.

The next major advance in the Army Game Project was the release of America's Army: Special Forces (v2.0) in the fall of 2003. We completely changed our character models, user interface and added the most complex and accurate modifiable weapon system in any game. In spite of the success of the game thus far, we felt for the first time that we had just begun to tap into the potential of the Army Game Project. There was and remains much that we've wanted to do with the game in terms of design and features.

Much of the Military and the world could see in America's Army that game engines can be powerful immersive simulation and media tools. New teams such as the Government Applications teams were formed to expand the core AA platform into actual simulation and prototyping systems. The Serious Games Summit was hosted by America's Army in Washington October 2004. Since then numerous other projects and teams have been working out new and cost effective simulations based on the core AA platform.

America's Army has been out for five years now and continues to be a highly successful game that is very unique inside the Government and Military as much as it is in the game industry. Regardless of your reason for wanting to play the game, it is quite impossible to walk away from it without having a greater understanding of the real U.S. Army. Consider that now there are 8.8 million registered players. Nearly 40% are outside the U.S. with large fan bases in many countries such as Germany, France, Poland, and South Korea. By the time you've read this, those numbers of fan locations will have already increased.

We are now approaching the end of the lifecycle of version 2.0 of America's Army. We still have more to do but in time, most of our efforts will be shifting to Version 3.0. I can tell you we've been thinking about this for a long time wondering how we might do things differently, what we got right and what would make it better if we had the chance. That chance is coming. We've learned a lot along the way and so we are quite certain we can go a lot further towards revealing more of the Army in a manner which it deserves. There is a wealth of, knowledge, honor and pride to be experienced in the U. S. Army, and Version 3.0 of America's Army is the right medium for it. Expect a great gaming experience and to walk away with so much more.

On behalf of the development team, I want to thank all of the fans for their support of America's Army. The America's Army game community is second to none. We have received compliments and feedback from players around the world, and that support has been a great inspiration to our team. We've enjoyed sharing the America's Army experience with you over the last five years, and we looking forward to exploring the Army with you for many years to come.

Phillip Bossant
Executive Producer/Art Director
America's Army - Emeryville