Gamers claim they are as proficient as Soldiers due to their gaming ability on Call of Duty. Comments?

SSG Alphonso Aiello — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 10:33:49 -0400

If a civilian would tell you as a soldier that they had the same training soldiers have because they play video games all day like cod. What would your reaction be? I see post like this all over the place and I just laugh knowing that this guy would crap his pants if he has been down range without our training.

Response by TSgt Joshua Copeland made Mar 17 at 2015 10:36 AM

TSgt Joshua Copeland — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 10:36:32 -0400

I invite them to participate in a FTX with full gear. see how well that does.

Response by CPT Zachary Brooks made Mar 17 at 2015 10:43 AM

CPT Zachary Brooks — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 10:43:38 -0400

If life were that arcadey it would be much more fun.

As someone who is/was a pro gamer, this is laughable.

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Mar 17 at 2015 10:45 AM

Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 10:45:05 -0400

Chesty Puller's Ghost!?!

So... I took my son to the range once, for a basic fire arms safety class and to get a feel for the noise.

While there, I pumped a few (about 50~) rounds down range.

My son is an avid gamer, but he has never been stupid enough to claim he's anywhere near as proficient as me, and I've been out a LONG time.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 17 at 2015 10:46 AM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 10:46:40 -0400

As a recruiter...oh yes! I've offered to put them in boots since they are clearly qualified and it should be a walk in the park. I've not had too many take me up on that

Response by SSG Alphonso Aiello made Mar 17 at 2015 10:49 AM

SSG Alphonso Aiello — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 10:49:14 -0400

I say the branches should allow us old timers the option to train with active duty/ national guardt/ reserves to give them our insight and past experience because now that most of us are getting out the army is loosing out. Although we trained our Soldiers most of them are getting out or forced out so everything we learned or taught them has been forgotten.

Response by CPT Zachary Brooks made Mar 17 at 2015 12:19 PM

CPT Zachary Brooks — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 12:19:02 -0400

Have them talk to us again after they implement this into their gaming:

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/11/24/new-gaming-controller-literally-drains-your-blood

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 17 at 2015 12:36 PM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 12:36:35 -0400

Are you implying all this time I've spent playing video games since 2004 hasn't kept my skills at the cutting edge of constant training and effort? How dare you...

Response by PV2 Phillip Price made Mar 18 at 2015 5:00 PM

PV2 Phillip Price — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 17:00:36 -0400

I'm a gamer and a veteran and nothing prepares you to sit and wait for 250000 artillery rounds to land in area 1 south Korea let alone a game that glorifies killing in a way that doesn't hit you like the real thing you turn of a game and forget the enemy but when you come home from deployment it comes home with you I can never forget

Response by CW3 Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2015 12:25 AM

CW3 Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 00:25:11 -0400

I was in a combat MOS 8 years ago and I have awesome gamer sk1llz. That makes me pretty freaking ninja.

Response by PO1 Cleve Ikaika Waiwaiole made Mar 22 at 2015 2:29 AM

PO1 Cleve Ikaika Waiwaiole — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 02:29:57 -0400

He'd crap his pants run away like a coward, and let his brothers die behind him. That's what separates civilian from our brothers in the service.

Cheers

Response by CH (MAJ) William Beaver made Mar 22 at 2015 4:30 AM

CH (MAJ) William Beaver — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 04:30:39 -0400

Board gamers like my friends who play chess and Risk alot seem to be quite excellent strategic thinkers. There is at least something to 'gaming ' although if the game requires more strategic thought and planning, I think the game is more helpful.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2015 4:38 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 04:38:37 -0400

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2015 4:51 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 04:51:56 -0400

Just shake my head.

Response by PO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2015 5:35 AM

PO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 05:35:28 -0400

I remember many years ago I was stationed with a fellow who was a former SEAL trainee. He told me once a hilarious story about a buddy of his.

Once during a challenging exercise, the instructors asked his buddy why he wanted to become a SEAL. His buddy said that he beat every level at every SOCOM: US Navy Seals games and now wanted to become one in real life.

Needless to say that due to severe 'beating' that followed, his buddy was no longer part of the training. The end.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2015 5:51 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 05:51:14 -0400

I'll put it this way; Just because I'm great at playing the board game "Operation" does not qualify me to perform surgery on anyone...

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2015 6:00 AM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 06:00:24 -0400

I don't recall seeing a respawn point in Afghanistan.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2015 6:30 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 06:30:10 -0400

One game where I could see a benefit for learning things like movement techniques, communication, and a couple other basic Soldiering tasks is Battlefield. But COD? Nope. And no game, simulation, or any other scenario fully prepares someone for the real thing. Things like NTC, which despite the groans it makes a lot of Soldiers feel when they hear it, is pretty effective, but still falls short in that there is no way to make the mind switch from "this is fake" to "this is real". At the end of the day, they know they're coming home. In a real life situation, that doesn't exist as a guarantee. No amount of simulation can make that point a reality besides actually being there.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2015 6:57 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 06:57:01 -0400

Tell them to pound sand.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 22 at 2015 7:49 AM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 07:49:56 -0400

there's no respawning when you die.

Response by MAJ Jim Steven made Mar 22 at 2015 8:00 AM

MAJ Jim Steven — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 08:00:43 -0400

I will put it this way....you sit down to play a videogame to relax, right??
I don't believe anyone deployed to OEF/OIF to relax and have fun....

Response by SFC Michael Hasbun made Mar 22 at 2015 9:21 AM

SFC Michael Hasbun — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 09:21:18 -0400

Well, in reference to the drone career fields...

Response by CPL Brendan Hayes made Mar 22 at 2015 9:28 AM

CPL Brendan Hayes — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 09:28:19 -0400

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Response by SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. made Mar 22 at 2015 10:06 AM

SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 10:06:49 -0400

All this goes out the window then the first round splats on the wall / tree next to you.

Response by SGT Jim Z. made Mar 22 at 2015 10:17 AM

SGT Jim Z. — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 10:17:02 -0400

Umm...no that is not how it works video games are that games not real life though they have come a long way since I was a kid they still are not real. These kids need to stop living in a fantasy world and start concentrating on real life tasks.

Response by SGT John Wesley made Mar 22 at 2015 10:53 AM

SGT John Wesley — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 10:53:52 -0400

Sitting in front of a monitor with chips and Mt.Dew does not constitute a warrior. Not to say that they have there place in things like Drones and remote EOD devices

Response by Cpl Christopher Sturdevant made Mar 22 at 2015 10:59 AM

Cpl Christopher Sturdevant — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 10:59:21 -0400

That's stupid too. One thing I've often laughed about in CoD is that you're playing as an elite soldier, but you can't sprint longer than 30-50m at a time?

Response by PO1 Derrick Miller made Mar 22 at 2015 10:43 PM

PO1 Derrick Miller — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 22:43:10 -0400

They might be proficient at operating drones, but playing Madden makes me no more a professional hand-egger than Halo would make me combat ready

Response by SSgt Dan Montague made Mar 24 at 2015 5:52 PM

SSgt Dan Montague — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 17:52:30 -0400

I always shut them down by explaining that in combat you don't re-spawn when your killed, or don't have unlimited supplies. In combat when your buddy takes a head shot and collapses, you can't joke about it with him over your little cool head set then wait for him to re-spawn.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 24 at 2015 6:44 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 18:44:26 -0400

Just like never having gone thru Airborne but have the tattoos of the wings, they still get jump pay right?

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 1 at 2015 6:23 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 18:23:47 -0400

. . . No Comment

Response by SSG John Erny made Jun 1 at 2015 6:26 PM

SSG John Erny — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 18:26:35 -0400

I let a gamer shoot my AR-15 Rock River Operator. He, he starts pulling the trigger as fast as he can until all the rounds were spent. : -/

Response by CH (MAJ) William Beaver made Jun 1 at 2015 6:31 PM

CH (MAJ) William Beaver — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 18:31:39 -0400

Oh yeah! I'm a basketball stud because I play EA Sports NBA basketball.

Response by PFC Tuan Trang made Jun 1 at 2015 6:31 PM

PFC Tuan Trang — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 18:31:54 -0400

Just because you're a best shooter in cod doesn't mean you're training as me or good than me.

Response by SGT Anthony Rossi made Jun 1 at 2015 6:32 PM

SGT Anthony Rossi — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 18:32:40 -0400

Maybe we should start issuing drivers license to 9 year olds. There great at super Mario cart.

Response by Capt Richard I P. made Jun 1 at 2015 6:52 PM

Capt Richard I P. — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 18:52:52 -0400

How many times have you died in your game? More than zero? How many chances do you expect in real life?

Response by SGT Edward Perez made Jun 1 at 2015 7:12 PM

SGT Edward Perez — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 19:12:41 -0400

I dont buy it. There's gamers, then you got Pvt Snuffy the gamers. Who is, actually badazz.
Shoot civies that claim they can do what we do or did. Outside of their homes, brother they ALL and i say ALL, have one thing in common. They are very lazy. Rather they be skinny or fat, they are lazy! They may possess some of the mental capabilities and familiar with military jargon but they dont possess the ability to share their very being to die for the person next to them. They do relize there is NO reset button in a live fire. Some maybe able to do it, but most No way.

Response by SSG (ret) William Martin made Jun 1 at 2015 7:28 PM

SSG (ret) William Martin — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 19:28:33 -0400

I play GTA5 so therefore I would make a great criminal.

Response by Sgt Cody Dumont made Jun 1 at 2015 7:30 PM

Sgt Cody Dumont — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 19:30:41 -0400

Tell the run for 3 blocks and see how effective they are.

Response by SSG (ret) William Martin made Jun 1 at 2015 7:31 PM

SSG (ret) William Martin — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 19:31:45 -0400

Let me take them to a motorpool around most people's going home time around 1700 hours. We will open shipping containers and inventory everything! lol

Response by SFC Stephen King made Jun 1 at 2015 7:36 PM

SFC Stephen King — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 19:36:19 -0400

Game on.

Response by CW3 Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 1 at 2015 7:45 PM

CW3 Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 19:45:35 -0400

See, I'd just fall over laughing.....

Response by SFC Maury Gonzalez made Jun 1 at 2015 7:55 PM

SFC Maury Gonzalez — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 19:55:04 -0400

It takes a special kind of stupid to believe that

Response by SFC Mark Merino made Jun 2 at 2015 4:15 AM

SFC Mark Merino — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 04:15:11 -0400

There is no 'Control+Alt +Delete' on any battlefield I know off.

Response by SrA Edward Vong made Jun 2 at 2015 8:47 AM

SrA Edward Vong — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 08:47:24 -0400

I do agree that playing some games can help with better hand eye coordination, but it won't make them better on the battlefield.

Putting that aside, Call of Duty is one of the most unrealistic first person shooters on the market, I doubt having a kill-streak in real life combat would award you an airstrike which would come at your aid within seconds of calling it. Or a tactical Nuke for that matter. If one wants to claim they know how to be just as tactical as a soldier, they should bring up a slightly more realistic game such as ArmA, and even then there is still much training you need to know.

I will say though, I fly planes as a hobby, and a flight simulator does indeed help me understand the basics of flight controls, instruments, and how a plane operates.

Response by SGT Kevin Brown made Jun 2 at 2015 8:51 AM

SGT Kevin Brown — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 08:51:09 -0400

I like Call of Duty and all but you cannot just press "Jump" to restart in real life.

Response by CPL Pappy Groves made Jun 2 at 2015 8:54 AM

CPL Pappy Groves — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 08:54:48 -0400

That is such a Bogus statement! I tell the younger guys I work with all the time, "Holding a Rifle and trying to hit a moving Target is far different than holding a Controler and trying to hit a moving Target! Plus.... Real Bullets coming at you feels completely different than an on screen characters fake bullets coming at your avatar!"

Response by SrA Matthew Knight made Jun 4 at 2015 11:43 PM

SrA Matthew Knight — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 23:43:59 -0400

"Here's an M4 and a magazine with dummy rounds. Load it."

Then the moment they either inevitably hit the forward assist with the bolt already forward none the less or worse, try to pull it (some games animations do that), I am going to laugh and take it away.

Response by SPC(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 28 at 2015 12:05 PM

SPC(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 12:05:37 -0400

So far playing paintball and laser tag with hardcore non-service member gamers has yielded amusing results.

Response by MSG David Chappell made Jun 28 at 2015 12:14 PM

MSG David Chappell — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 12:14:44 -0400

It's true call of duty is just like the real thing lmao

Response by SSgt Charles Edwards made Jun 28 at 2015 12:16 PM

SSgt Charles Edwards — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 12:16:41 -0400

All it takes is a live bullet to whiz by a gamer's head before he wets his pants. A video game is not the same thing. Hell, I dominate NCAA Football and Madden on Xbox, but you don't see me applying for a head coaching job. Some people today are a special kind of stupid.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 28 at 2015 1:32 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 13:32:39 -0400

Can you get PTSD from a video game?

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Jun 28 at 2015 1:55 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 13:55:50 -0400

Take your ass to the recruiting station since your military acumen is so great. Gamers are in their own world that they are boss over. They also think by simple extrapolation they are the boss of the battlefield. It sounds like the entitled generation.

Response by SSG Trevor S. made Aug 12 at 2015 11:39 AM

SSG Trevor S. — Wed, 12 Aug 2015 11:39:20 -0400

I rarely see posts with those kind of comments. When I do I just laugh. The poor guy might get drafted one day. Maybe the "training" will come in handy.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 13 at 2015 11:16 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 13 Sep 2015 23:16:13 -0400

They might have a point looking through the sights on these new games might give you an edge in real life. Most military training is done by PowerPoint and all you learn in the field is how to be homeless.