America’s Army 3
When thinking about the U.S. Army, we tend to have an outside view about what it means to be in the Army and what Soldiers encounter on a daily basis. It is hard to visualize something that the majority of us have/will never experience in our lives. However, through the Army’s newest game, America’s Army 3, we get that glance into a Soldiers’ life. Below is a special blog post from one of America’s Army Real Heroes and creator of AA3, Sergeant First Class John Adams. 
At a very young age each and every one of us are taught both personal values and the meaning of teamwork. In the Army, as in life, living according to your values is critical to success. One of the Army Values, Honor, along with teamwork ranks toward the top of the chart when discussing the essence of Soldiering.
What does it mean when we in the Army, say that we must epitomize the Army Values? Basically it means that as Soldiers, we live up to a higher standard. Everyone has his or her own interpretation of the words Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage (which form the acronym LDRSHIP). But how often do you actually see someone live up to them? From the first day at Basic Combat Training each and every Soldier learns these values in detail, and from then on he or she lives them every day in everything he or she does – whether in uniform and on the job or in civilian clothes enjoying time off. The Army Values are our baseline, our foundation, our core. They define who we are, what we do, and what we stand for. I am focusing on honor, as it plays such an integral part in America’s Army 3(AA3) and its game play.
If we demonstrate Honor, we live up to all the Army Values. As the Army’s Web site, www.goarmy.com, so eloquently points out, the nation’s highest military award is called the Medal of Honor. It is awarded only to the finest Soldiers who make honor a matter of daily living. Honor is a like a composite value – it is the sum of all of the other Army Values: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Integrity, and Personal Courage. A Soldier cannot be honorable if he or she does not exemplify these other Values.
There is also a teamwork scoring component in AA3. Players in close proximity to other players during a scoring event will share in some of those points for working as a team and covering each other. This brings me to the nature of teamwork and how it relates to our Army way of life.
Teamwork is defined as a cooperative effort by a group or team. Everyone at some point in his or her life has been associated with a group or a team, and everyone on that team has worked toward a common goal. In the Army we work to accomplish the mission and to improve our organization at the same time. For me specifically, teamwork has been very important when it comes to training my Soldiers.
I think that General (Ret.) Eric Shinseki said it best: “Everything we are called upon to do in the Army requires teamwork, and teamwork is built on a foundation of trust and confidence within units — between Soldier and Soldier, between leaders and led, and between units who see themselves serving side-by-side. That trust and confidence emerges from our daily commitment to our Army values. Without trust, there can be no dignity and respect for the individual Soldier, and cohesion and morale in our units would suffer.” To me, this is an extremely powerful statement about being Army Strong.
Teamwork is necessary to succeed and survive in the Army and in America’s Army 3. The game is the Army’s official game, and it brings unparalleled realism and authenticity to military gaming. The Army cannot accomplish its missions without adhering to the Army Values and employing teamwork at every level, and the same is true for AA3.
To read more about SFC John Adams and AA3, visit their website at http://www.americasarmy.com/.
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