Sic vis pacem parabellum. One of the things that are probably on the minds of our soldiers over seas fighting for our freedom. Sic vis pacem parabellum. In latin it means: If you want peace, prepare for war. But what are the things that prepare the mind for war? There are a lot of things I could list but one of them I came across was “Military VR Simulation.” Of course, when gamers hear this it would be translated to them as ‘Video Game Simulation for real combat.’

Many people have speculated that Video Games and real war is like oil and water. It doesn’t mix. In a sense I’d have to agree to this. Why? Because according to the DSM-IV (1994), PTSD [Post Traumatic Stress Disorder] is caused by traumatic events that are outside the range of usual human experiences such as military combat, violent personal assault, being kidnapped or taken hostage, terrorist attack, torture, incarceration as a prisoner of war, natural or man-made disasters, automobile accidents, or being diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. Studies also show that a soldier in a real combat environment is tend to experience not only a high adrenaline rush but goes through certain symptoms like:

• Intrusive Thoughts and flashbacks
• Anger
• Isolation
• Emotional numbing and constriction
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Substance abuse
• Survivor Guilt
• Hyper-alertness
• Suicidal feelings and thoughts
• Alienation
• Negative self-image
• Memory impairment
• Problems with intimate relationships
• Emotional distance from family and others
• Denials of Social Problems
  

In a Video Game it’s different. You might feel a sense of hyper-alertness, haste and sometimes anger, that’s it; No bloody mess or anyone getting killed. Of course it would be for someone who has never played a Video Game in their life and has tried a VR simulation for the first time. It would look like someone is actually shooting at you, then you would be scared because for that split second you would forget it's only a simulation. It’s not real.

VR simulations can help you train for the real thing unlike Video Games, since all they do is increase hand-eye coordination. The problem is that people thinking Video Games can help the military don’t know the difference between VR simulations and Video Games. Of course VR simulations are Video Games, but what VR simulations really do is train the whole body for war itself. It makes you think as if you were really in that certain situation. Plus, your aim would be on track when shooting a rifle or a gun.

Game developers give gamers a world where instead of joining Uncle Sam and going off to war they can fight the war amongst other gamers online in certain game genres like Military RTS, FPS, and TPS. Mainly FPS and Military RTS is the staple of gamers who often play games like Command and Conquer, Halo 1 and 2, and Counter Strike.

During the mid 90’s a game called “Doom” appeared on the scene. Among all the PC games that came out for Windows and Apple computers “Doom” was very popular. It got so popular that The Marines decided to use it as a simulator calling it “Marine Doom”.

It was used for collective training. Unlike “Doom” it featured opposing forces instead of monsters. In 1996, MCMSMO adapted the game Doom II for training four-man fire teams in concepts such as mutual fire team support, protection of the automatic rifleman, proper sequencing of an attack, ammunition discipline, and succession of command. This then led to the creation of more FPS games such as Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six, Delta Force, and Red Storm.