Army Experience Center in Philadelphia - Seven Arrested

[seemslikeadream]

http://www.hotindienews.com/2009/05/06/102060

Seven Arrested at Philadelphia Mall over Military Recruiting Practices

Seven Arrested at Philadelphia Mall over Military Recruiting Practices 300 Veterans, military families, religious leaders and voters rallied, marched and closed the “Army Experience Center” to decry the Army pilot program that entices teens with violent video games

Philadelphia, PA — May 6, 2009 – Several hundred demonstrators from a coalition of 30 national and regional veteran, youth and peace groups, including the Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans for Peace, BuxMont Coalition for Peace Action, Student Peace Action Network, protested what they claimed were unethical military recruitment of teenagers at Franklin Mills Mall in northeast Philadelphia.

The protesters rallied at a church, then marched one mile to the Franklin Mills mall where dozens of police blocked them from entering the “Army Experience Center” (AEC). After nearly an hour of chants of “War is no game, shut down the Army Experience Center” and speeches, Bob Smith of the Brandywine Peace Community (a member of United for Peace and Justice, a coalition of 1,300 national and local organizations) delivered a criminal complaint (4) to a Captain at the AEC and to a representative of the mall’s parent company, The Simon Property Group, Inc. After two police warnings, hundreds of protesters continued to chant and listen to speeches by Col. Wright and others, until the police arrested seven conducting civil disobedience by refusing to leave. Forced out of the mall, people continued to vigil and listen to songs by the Granny Peace Brigade outside the “red” entrance to the mall.

“The Army Experience Center is an abomination. It epitomizes the turn for the worse that the military was forced to take over the last eight years. It is misleading. It targets impressionable minors, and it propagates the glorification of war. I am utterly disgusted that the Army which I loved and in which I served so long has resorted to such a deceiving recruiting strategy,” said Sergeant Jesse Hamilton, who served nine years in the Army including tours in Iraq. After receiving and honorable discharge, he joined Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW).







http://www.army.mil/-news/2008/09/02/12072-army-experience-center-opens-in-philadelphia/

PHILADELPHIA (Army News Service, Aug. 29, 2008) - The Army opened the Army Experience Center, a one-of-a-kind, 14,500-square-foot virtual educational facility Friday at the Franklin Mills Mall.

The AEC, central to the Army Experience Pilot Program, offers visitors the opportunity to virtually experience many aspects of Army life, while evaluating new marketing strategies.

Located near a popular entertainment facility and an indoor skate park, the AEC features a number of interactive simulations and online educational opportunities. It is manned by more than 20 Soldiers who are available to share their stories with visitors and answer questions they may have about the Army. Although the Soldiers who run the center are trained recruiters, the AEC is not a recruiting center, according to Ryan Hansen of Ignited Corporation, who partnered with the Army on the project.

"The center is an attraction tool. There is no recruiting mission here," Hansen said. "Here it is more about changing perceptions."

The Soldiers at the AEC don't have quotas. They don't wear traditional Army uniforms, but rather black Army polo shirts and khaki pants. They are from diverse backgrounds and have unique stories to tell. At first glance they seem more like tour guides than Army recruiters, and in a sense, they are. They guide center visitors through their tour of the facility.

"They are the Army," Hansen said. And as the center's slogan states, "The Army is more than you think it is."

Through market research, and proven outreach tools like the "America's Army" game and the mobile "Virtual Army Experience," Hansen said the Army learned that the best way for people to become acquainted with their Army was for them to be able to touch, feel and see the Army in a non-threatening environment. By incorporating the lessons learned from and technologies of those outreach tools, officials believe the Army Experience Center will make the Army accessible to visitors.

"What we are doing here is reaching out to Americans, giving them the opportunity to understand their Army," said Maj. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick, head of the U.S. Army Recruiting Command. "Oftentimes people have a negative perception of the Army, but the negatives are a very small part. Our Soldiers are well-trained, well-equipped and serving a great mission."

The Army Experience Center, Bostick added, will help dispel many of the myths that exist about the Army.

Transparency was one of the main focuses in the design of the center, said Maj. Larry Dillard, AEC program manager. The outside is made of glass, as are the fronts of every enclosed space within the center, with the exceptions of the simulator areas, which require low light to operate.

"Everything's transparent. We don't want to fuel the misconception that once our Soldiers tell their great Army stories, we drag kids behind a 'black curtain' and they come out enlisted," Dillard said. "We have nothing to hide. If someone wants to know more about the Army, great. If not, at the very least we will have changed their perception of the Army. The Army is a great deal and people just don't understand that."

The idea of the center, which cost $12 million to design and construct, was first conceived in December 2007, said Ed Walters, chief marketing officer and principal deputy secretary of the Army. "Visitors to the center will have a better idea of the training and career opportunities afforded our Soldiers, and the high-tech nature of our institution."

Upon entering the AEC, visitors provide a minimal amount of information to register -- name, date of birth, address and education level. They have the option to receive additional information about the Army, but are not obligated to do so. People of all ages are welcome to visit the center, but gaming activities are limited to people 13 and older, as the Entertainment Software Rating Board rates many of the gaming activities T for teens.

Following registration, visitors are then issued an identification card, which is swiped at each station within the center. All activities are free to participants.

"Everything in the center showcases a piece of the Army," said Dillard.

The Global Base Locator highlights Army installations throughout the United States and abroad. The Career Exploration Area lets visitors use its touch-screen technology to learn about 179 different Army career fields. The simulator area houses three simulators, including an Apache helicopter with pilot and co-pilot experiences, Black Hawk helicopter with four door gunner positions, and an armored Humvee with driver and gunner positions.

[Liberation Angel]

1. IVAW rocks!

Like code pink the iraq veterans against the war are the true heroes and keep hope alive for me!

With the news of the civilian deaths in afghanistan my heart breaks

Obama must stop these wars and we the people must act, as these folks did in Philly, to stop these wars.

[Liberation Angel]

2. This is important

In Denver last summer I witnessed the IVAW march at the dem convention and was awed by the courage ad conviction of these hero veterans of Iraq who are fighting peacefully to stop these wars (though frankly they were ready to die to get their message heard in Denver and a bloodbath was avoided when Obama agreed to meet with their reps and accept their petition to stop the war.

These men and women (along with code pink) are true heroes of the movement to bring the truth to light about torture, crimes against humanity and ongoing injustices.
This story deserves more attention. They have paid the highest price for this country, those who survived the insanity of war, short of death (though many are still dying from PTSD and illness and suicidal depression, so folks should knw this and support them.

They have more credibility as opponents of these wars and US terrorist-like torture and crimes than anyone else. They experienced the horrors.

And we all owe them respect for their fight against these crimes.

[leftstreet]

3. K&R

[G_j]

4. bless IVAW!

good work

[Liberation Angel]

5. I was never prouder

to be an american when I marched with them and camped with these folks in the "freedom cage" under klieg lights and armed gestapo-like bushbot military surrounding us with hevy weapons.

These people are and were fearless

[slipslidingaway]

6. Another article and link to the AEC site

http://www.thearmyexperience.com/#


http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/41008


"...This is so cool!" This is so cool!" The enthralled 13 year-old kept repeating as he squeezed rounds from his M-16, picking off "enemy combatants" while perched on a real Army Humvee.

We're in the new Army Experience Center in suburban Philadelphia and the young teen, who doesn't look older than eleven, was obviously impressed with the Army's killing machines. "I just came to the mall to skateboard in the skate park across the hall but everyone said this was pretty cool. I just had to try it and its great!"

Video games offer the perfect segues between childhood innocence and institutionalized killing. That's why the Army opened the Army Experience Center, a one-of-a-kind, 14,500-square-foot "virtual educational facility" in August of 2008. Although the Army says it's not about recruiting, all 20 soldiers stationed at the mall are active duty recruiters...

The Army will run the Experience Center as a pilot program for up to two years when it will decide whether to launch them nationally, like so many Wal-Marts. Early reports regarding the success of the program indicate that the Army Experience Center is able to attract the same number of recruits as five traditional recruiting centers in the area surrounding Bensalem, the Philadelphia suburb where Franklin Mills Mall is located.

With the unemployment rate of Bensalem, Pennsylvania, steadily rising from 3.8% in December of 2006 to nearly double that rate today, the military chose an excellent location for the pilot program. Although the Army Experience Center cost more than $12 million to design and construct, the recruiters on duty explained that the Army is "giving back" to the community by preparing students for the high school equivalency test. The center includes 20 PC work stations where recruiters provide GED instruction for free..."

[slipslidingaway]

7. kick nt