Military planners must have hoped that distancing the killers from the killed would help soldiers overcome the natural disinclination humans have for killing one another. Research after WWII indicated that, when the time came to pull the trigger, an astonishing number of soldiers just couldn’t bring themselves to do it. So much for “don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes.”

However, it now emerges that technicians operating remote drones suffer from PTSD, too, because the video imagery of their human targets is high resolution, and they can clearly see the people they are bombing. Another problem is that the highly trained pilots who are assigned to the job saw themselves as potential “Top Guns” who would be swooping around in real aircraft enjoying the thrill that comes with that. Sitting hunched over a screen wasn’t what the recruiter promised them when they were enlisting.

And recruiters are suffering from work related stress of their own. The Army investigated a rash of suicides among recruiters, and the investigation led to a stand-down day where recruiters were ordered to take a break from their regular duties and attend training on stress reduction. The study showed a major factor was pressure on recruiters, many of them vets of Iraq and Afghanistan, to lie and cheat in order to meet their quotas.

Solution? Computer technology to the rescue again! The Army Experience Center (AEC) is a multi-million dollar video game arcade located in Franklin Mills Mall in Philadelphia, an area with plenty of low-income youth to recruit. According to its website the AEC offers “SIMULATORS: Volunteer for a mission and become part of the action…take part in an authentic battle scenario with equipment modeled after genuine Army vehicles, aircraft and weapons.” (Black Hawk, HMMWV & Apache are the models shown.) In addition, the gaming arena houses “79 gaming stations, including 19 brand new Xbox 360 consoles…or just enjoy an afternoon as a virtual Soldier.”

Gamers can capture a photo of their simulator experience, then retrieve the photo from the AEC website later, if they are at least age 13 and register with the AEC. Community groups can reserve the Tactical Operations Center for their meetings in order to utilize its high tech presentation and communication software. A community group of CODEPINK members and others shut down the AEC earlier this year and continues to work for its closure on the grounds that recruiting that targets children is wrong.

The Army says the AEC was designed to “…shatter outdated stereotypes and start new career conversations.” It also appears to be designed to capitalize on video game addicted American teenagers, many of whom have trouble earning high school diplomas. The AEC can help with that, too. Phase 4 Learning, billed as “a non- traditional approach to earning a high school diploma and preparing for the future,” shows teenagers in front of — guess what — computer monitors. Other photos of the center show teens milling around, with captions explaining that they are waiting to use the simulators.

Using computers to recruit is a way around problems identified by vet Danny White of Martinez, CA: “As a former Army recruiter, I can say that most servicepeople would prefer not to go to schools but are compelled to comply by their chain of command. Most recruiters would not be in recruiting at all if they had a choice. The majority are selected to serve and have no practical way to avoid the duty.”

International law forbids the recruitment of those under the age of 15, while the 1989 UN Child Convention defines a minor as under 18.

Into that gap fall a million advertisements delivered by mass media. Plus several thousand pencils, posters and textbook covers provided “free” of charge at school. Now add a high pressure salesman who has a teen’s cell number — because he bought her the phone.

A Marine recruiter in California was arrested in May on charges he used a 14 year-old girl to entice teenage male recruits.

Citizens in that state took it upon themselves last winter to impose controls at the municipal level. The towns of Arcata and Eureka passed ordinances limiting the ability of military recruiters to contact residents under age 18. But in December the U.S. Justice Deptarment took the towns to court, claiming illegal interference in the fed’s ability to hook kids into helping keep the world safe for democracy. No ruling as yet.

Citizens with elected school boards could impose similar controls, if they got riled up. “You will find that establishing trust and credibility with students, even seventh- and eighth-graders, can positively impact your high school and post-secondary school recruiting effort,” says the handbook for Army recruiters.

School board directors who argue that a weeks long Army National Guard program delivered during the school day by Guardsmen in combat fatigues is “not recruiting” obviously haven’t read the manual. They just love the “free” program, which was actually paid for twice: once as part of the $2+ billion annual military recruiting budget, and again as part of the school day, half funded by local property taxes, with a price tag of around $40,000. That’s the cost in a small rural school district in Maine i.e. one with a strong poverty draft pulling kids in already.

“I wonder what branch I’ll get sucked into.” That’s a younger brother talking.