On Friday, February 28, the army’s recruiters arrived at C-G in a semi truck filled with simulators. Inside, you could fly a drone plane, steer a tank down a street, fly a helicopter, shoot at targets, and even operate a mechanical arm like the machinery used by the military.

Although moderately vacant at the beginning of my lunch period, by the end the truck was teeming with students, curious about the truck and the opportunities the army had for a person looking to serve.

The recruiters were very friendly, chatting with students and informing them of all the possibilities when serving the U.S. in the army. They were very eager to explain things to the students who visited their truck and made sure to attend to each student who had questions. I was even approached about doing journalism for the army, as one of the recruiters showed me on a touchscreen computer all the different ways a person can serve. Senior Anthony Davis also talked to the recruiters and heard their pitch.

“I do think it could persuade people to join,” said Davis, a student who visited the truck with genuine interest in serving after high school. And it’s true, seeing what actions you could be performing for our country and receiving the information necessary for considering serving can definitely impact a student’s decisions for their post-high school life.

The simulators were, of course, the biggest draw for students visiting the truck. Like a giant video game, they allow you to be a part of the army in a computer-generated world. Most students seemed to flock to the shooting, wanting to see how many targets they could take out in the allotted time frame.

The tank simulator also seemed to be popular, with students hopping up into the seat as soon as it was vacated. I found the drone plane simulator to be very accurate, with even the slightest movement of the joystick for steering altering the drone’s course of flight.

“I think the simulators were pretty accurate,” Davis said. “[They] showed what the [soldiers] do to train and what they train for everyday.”

This is definitely the most advanced recruiting tactic Cary-Grove has seen from any branch of the military and should, I think, contribute to some students’ decision to join the army after high school.