| In the virtual world of online gaming, players can acquire skills that allow them to slay fire-breathing dragons, build elaborate civilizations and terminate mobs of hungry zombies. But what if you could translate these gaming skills into real world tactics and fight actual modern-day pirates?
That is the idea behind the U.S. Navy's online war game. The game outlines scenarios, such as pirate ships holding valuable hostages off the coast of Africa, U.S.-Chinese relations at a breaking point where both countries have naval ships in the area.
Players come up with a 140-character suggestion for tools to fix the situation. Then, players are asked to identify (also in 140 characters) what risks could be detrimental to the proposed solutions.
Anyone can participate in the game, submit their own suggestions and vote on ideas from other players. The first round of cuts will take place after the first week of play, and the lowest-voting ideas will be eliminated. At the end of the game the best and most popular suggestions will rise to the top and all of the players will be able to see the winning ideas. The prize? Winners ultimately receive the prestige of knowing that their ideas may be the way the Navy chooses to combat real-life piracy threats.
Piracy is real-world threat
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Waters off of the coast of Somalia have become the most dangerous shipping lanes in the world. |
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While you might think pirates belong in novels or blockbuster movies, piracy is actually a very real problem for businesses and public safety in certain parts of the world. Pirates hijack ships and then demand ransom for the ship's cargo or for hostages held by force.
In September 2008, pirates seized a Ukrainian freighter packed with tanks, antiaircraft guns and other heavy weaponry. After four months of negotiations, $3.2 million in cash was dropped by parachute, and the pirates escaped.
Piracy hit an all-time high worldwide in the first three months of this year, led by a surge in incidents off the coast of Somalia, a poverty-stricken, war-torn nation on the Horn of Africa. In February 2011, pirates killed four American hostages who were sailing through Somalia’s pirate infested seas.
Somali officials told the New York Times that piracy started about 15 to 20 years ago as a response to illegal fishing. The country's tuna-rich waters were plundered by commercial fishing fleets soon after the government collapsed in 1991. Some Somali fishermen turned into armed vigilantes, confronting fishing boats and demanding they pay a tax. Since then, these waters have become the most dangerous shipping lanes in the world.
Gaming in the military
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Combat medics are using virtual simulators for medical training that could be useful in the battlefield. |
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This isn’t the first time the Armed Forces have used videogaming consoles or online games to assist with real-life situations.
Combat medics play "STATCare," a virtual simulator that lets them bandage wounds, apply tourniquets, administer intravenous fluids, inject medications and make all of the other assessments they would be required to do in an actual battlefield.
Military surgeons have also done training exercises on a system called "Top Gun," a program designed to train laparoscopic surgeons and doctors who use minimally-invasive techniques to repair injuries.
According to USA Today, surgeons who play video games three hours a week have 37 percent fewer errors and accomplish tasks 27 percent faster.
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Joplin was able to rise from the ashes because of help from everyone. And I am eternally grateful to anyone who made that possible.
