Army recruiting gamers in UK

Headhunters are targeting kids who play video games to become helicopter pilots, reports the Sunday Mirror.

The UK Army is looking for teenagers who extensively play video games, as their hand-to-eye coordination and other abilities used while gaming apparently make them a perfect fit for piloting Apache helicopters.

Yes, gamers, this means you.

Helicopters are extremely complicated vehicles to fly, and it often takes years for a pilot to master the controls. The Army has deployed the Apaches to Afghanistan where it says they have played "a crucial role," but more pilots are desperately needed.

A senior Army Air Corps source told the tabloid, "The skill in flying the aircraft is to absorb large amounts of information from different sources without becoming flustered. The new generation of computer-game-playing youngsters glued to their PlayStations, Xboxes and Game Boys already have some of those skills."

The UK ordered a fleet of 67 Apache helicopters in 2002, at the cost of approximately £37 million (around $71 million) per aircraft. The move was criticised after the machines had to be kept in storage due to a lack of pilots who could fly them--the original training programme had been put back from April 2004 until February 2007.

63 Comments

  • Nodashi

    Posted Apr 6, 2009 2:50 pm PT

    you could have a lot of worst jobs in the army then flying an Apache...

  • theKSMM

    Posted Jan 11, 2007 8:30 pm PT

    Maybe if they redesign the controls of the Apache to be reconfigurable and designed like a DualShock (complete with rumble)...

  • SpareJesus

    Posted Jan 10, 2007 4:12 am PT

    Diabetes prevents me from joining the army. Hah.

  • matrixman2k

    Posted Jan 9, 2007 11:22 pm PT

    And they couldn't find a better way to spend the cash...

  • aramitz

    Posted Jan 9, 2007 10:23 pm PT

    It's a shame the army pay less than working in Tesco

  • pompomboy

    Posted Jan 9, 2007 2:18 pm PT

    ps3 pwned everything

  • LoWpS

    Posted Jan 9, 2007 1:34 pm PT

    too bad most gamers wudnt wanna join the army. theyve too much gaming to do

  • GTCzeero

    Posted Jan 9, 2007 1:27 pm PT

    Oh no, I better hide before the army finds me.

  • dandoc2

    Posted Jan 9, 2007 1:26 pm PT

    Im 17 and if i wanted to die i could jump of a cliff i dont have to join the army to do it -------anyways im amazing in battlefield 2 at flying helicopters so if they wanted me to recruit they should give me loadsa dosh

  • princeofgames90

    Posted Jan 9, 2007 12:36 pm PT

    funny one

  • tin_head

    Posted Jan 9, 2007 12:31 pm PT

    interesting..as a brit im thinking about it...no wait, second thoughts im only 16

    friendly fire might be an issue

  • lucky326

    Posted Jan 9, 2007 12:19 pm PT

    To bad my Eyesight is Terrible I would love to get out there.

  • piecake

    Posted Jan 9, 2007 11:46 am PT

    this is sick

  • cjcr_alexandru

    Posted Jan 9, 2007 10:59 am PT

    "The UK Army is looking for teenagers who extensively play video games, as their hand-to-eye coordination and other abilities used while gaming apparently make them a perfect fit for piloting Apache helicopters."

    That's one of the best pro gamer arguments that I've ever heard.

  • s0ck69

    Posted Jan 9, 2007 9:59 am PT

    im definitely willing to try flying 37 million pounds worth of apache

  • solidgamer

    Posted Jan 9, 2007 9:19 am PT

    count me out

  • Dantes_Monkey

    Posted Jan 9, 2007 8:51 am PT

    i hardly think CS source is going to make me good for the army. to quote fpsdoug "what if i get lag out there? i'm dead! and i hear there are no respawn points in RL either"

  • Gigagamer2

    Posted Jan 9, 2007 8:28 am PT

    hehehe, i am a british, teenage gamer, look out Iraq, or afghnanistan or wherever we attack next.

  • thefjk

    Posted Jan 9, 2007 7:30 am PT

    I took the flying lessons in GTA San Andreas and passed all of them with flying colours... enroll me Uncle Sam, wait that's the American army guy, who this guy with the moustache?

  • Witchsight

    Posted Jan 9, 2007 6:12 am PT

    Hey, i know how to do a barrel roll, im in! As long as i can save my game first

  • Lanfeix

    Posted Jan 9, 2007 3:26 am PT

    nah hard core gamers probley will compain about the auto-aim crouching their style. and yes they are £37 million each and thats what happens when you have a device which is not mass produced or sold to a wide market. Also they fit with a better tech than a standered helicopter in the way of part so that it wont fall out of the sky in battle feild conditions. then you have all that advanced radar and wepoan systems. And for the finaly their are the arms dealers profits. it easly comes up to 37 million

  • kavadias1981

    Posted Jan 9, 2007 12:39 am PT

    hehe us gamers wouldn't stand a chance in a real life combat situation. We would have the "How many extra lives do I have left?" mentality lol

  • Chief_Kuuni

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 9:00 pm PT

    now all I need is a drivers licence

  • TryMe01

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 5:27 pm PT

    hopefully this will get gamers in the UK fit enough to play the Wii for extended periods without puffing out

  • frogiggy323

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 1:44 pm PT

    It's our time to shine and teach Osama whose boss!

  • Isakovic

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 1:11 pm PT

    OMIGOD! Must be Tony Blair’s idea poor guy...not! They should keep in mind what goes up it comes down even harder!!! As far as I know Afghani and other "battle hardened" war mongers have been trained with stingers and other similar antiaircraft man carried missiles since 1980's. I don’t think "Apache Kids" stand a chance!!! Sure you get to blow up things, but like someone already said be4, no reset button!

  • TWOC2689

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 1:01 pm PT

    So I can fly a helicopter but I have just past my driving test. COOL!

  • SilV3RSix

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 12:35 pm PT

    maxxorz
    "what on earth are they thinking?
    Sure, playing videogames has made my hand-eye coordination with firearms unparalleled, but there is no way that makes me or anyone else MORE qualified to use a multi-million dollar flying tank."

    It's all about the ability to process information. If they have found a correlation between how the brain handles video game information and flying, then why not recruit those people? I mean a good Halo player, for example, has to keep track of radar (possibly multiple enemies), his equipped weapons (knowing when/how to use them), map layouts, where the uber weapons are and how to deal with players using them (swords, rocket launchers, snipers, etc), health/sheilds, vehicle strategies, team considerations (friendly fire, covering flag carriers, attacking/defending bases), and maybe above all team communication and coordination. That's a ton of stuff going on when you think about it, yet good gamers learn to do all that stuff without batting an eye.

  • GSVale

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 12:03 pm PT

    Cool, i'd fly an Apache.

  • sideoftheham

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 11:54 am PT

    Great, send little kids whose partents get pissed at them for spending their whole time playing games to a foreign country so that their parents would really want them to spend their whole time playing games.

  • R3DN1N3

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 11:53 am PT

    Terrorist: *fires Ground-to-air missle"

    You: *dodged the missle in time* "Hey no missles NOOB! Don't make me kick you out of the server!"

    Hell yeah, and all this time my parents said nothing good will ever come of video games lol.

  • Cloud737

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 11:47 am PT

    That`s it, I`m joining the army! (j/k)
    Seems kinda strange to hear this. It`s like I`m in a Sci-Fi movie or something, where the world isn`t like it used to be. Army recruiting gamers? It`s like hearing army recruiting teenagers and kids to fight their wars and kill each other. I know I`m exaggerating, but that`s what it comes to mind.

  • ramza_scythe

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 11:42 am PT

    I am suddenly reminded of the ending of Snakes on a Plane, what with the guy flying the plane with only PS2 flight simulator experience

  • Generic_Dude

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 11:41 am PT

    Last Starfighter FTW?

    I can see it now...
    "We @re $0 g0ing t0 pwn th@t n00b in N0rth K0re@!!! W00t!!! @ll y0ur b@$e @re belong t0 u$!!!"

    Who says video game violence doesn't pay?

  • 9paa

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 11:34 am PT

    you can't just be a hardcore gamer...basic training is 6 months..then you learn to fly the chopper. a lot of people are saying they don't want to kill themselves but...silv3rsix is right...apache versus man with ak47....unlikely to die there

  • maxxorz

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 11:33 am PT

    "look at them youngsters with their gameboys and skateboards and pierced eyebrows! i bet those blokes would make terrific assault aircraft pilots and gunners!"

    what on earth are they thinking?
    Sure, playing videogames has made my hand-eye coordination with firearms unparalleled, but there is no way that makes me or anyone else MORE qualified to use a multi-million dollar flying tank.

  • SilV3RSix

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 11:29 am PT

    Kids should be fighting over the chance to fly these things... The new Longbow variants are about as unfair an advantage as it gets.

  • bobbetybob

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 11:25 am PT

    mine mine mine mine!!!! lol i'm gonna tk you!!! no don't you'll get kicked, no we won't lol i just got monster kill!!! knife him knife him!!! lol jk stfu or we'll get kicked lawl they can't kick us!! we have best scores!!! lol i tk'ed joo!!!

    but irl...

  • darthmonkey360

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 11:25 am PT

    WOW im a british teenager COUNT ME IN DUDE!!!

  • diablos101

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 11:24 am PT

    wtf £37,000,000 per aircraft.... no way in hell does that cos 37 million, ne ways, way to target kids to supplement the need for pilots... Just pull out ffs

  • Simsyas

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 11:24 am PT

    boom headshot lol

  • nuttysack

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 11:22 am PT

    I used to be the biggest video game player and didn't know what to do with my life, so I took up flying and now I'm a pilot and a cadet in the US Air Force. Some people just can't be pilots, but from a huge gaming background (halo, rogue spear, cs) I can say video games have helped me fly. If they make the cut then so be it. Its time games do something worth while for us in the real world.

  • frosty118

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 11:16 am PT

    holy **** i want me an apache

  • spow

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 11:09 am PT

    TEAM KILL IS ABOUT TO GO TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL!!! XD

  • Legacyoftain

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 11:07 am PT

    Worst idea ever.....take a bunch of people who for the most part play video games to escape reality..then put them in the most dangerous realistic situations in human history (war)...thats a recipe for success my friend.....on paper this idea is sound. But then again so is communism. Call me American but the best way IMO is how we do it in the states.....brainwashing disillusioned HS kids who arent sure if college is the right step for them or HS dropouts who need "direction" in life..

  • Re_ensurer

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 10:55 am PT

    Piloting Apache helicopters.

  • GtaDriv3r

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 10:40 am PT

    Kids don't be fooled the apache helicopters don't come with a RESET button!

  • maverickexe

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 10:36 am PT

    Um... lol, thats fun.

  • Shtinky

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 10:31 am PT

    If ever I feel the need to commit suicide, I'll give them a call.

  • zombidude

    Posted Jan 8, 2007 10:27 am PT

    I feel used.
    this is almost like saying: u can fly a jet in bettlefield 2, go and destroy a real army base in the desert with cruise missiles. its v strange.

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