Virtual Reality Prepares Soldiers for Real War

Virtual Reality Prepares Soldiers for Real War: "Virtual Reality Prepares Soldiers for Real War
Young Warriors Say Video Shooter Games Helped Hone Their Skills
By Jose Antonio Vargas
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 14, 2006;

One blistering afternoon in Iraq, while fighting insurgents in the northern town of Mosul, Sgt. Sinque Swales opened fire with his .50-cal. That was only the second time, he says, that he ever shot an enemy. A human enemy.
'It felt like I was in a big video game. It didn't even faze me, shooting back. It was just natural instinct. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! ' remembers Swales, a fast-talking, deep-voiced, barrel-chested 29-year-old from Chesterfield, Va. He was a combat engineer in Iraq for nearly a year.


Sgt. Sinque Swales, here playing 'SOCOM 3' at home in Chesterfield, Va., says shooting an insurgent in Iraq 'felt like I was in a big video game. It didn't even faze me.' (Jay Paul - Ftwp)


Sgt. Sinque Swales describes how simulated war video games, such as Medal of Honor, Ghost Recon, Halo 2 and Call of Duty, helped prepare him for using his weapon and fighting when he served as a combat engineer in Iraq.

more