“Striking Sparks” — Page Twenty-Two
Actually, I guess Army barracks have come a long way since the traditional “rows of bunk beds in a Quonset hut” as seen in war movies. The modern barracks displayed in this video do seem comparatively swank. Though the comments beneath indicate such are far from being standard issue for most soldiers, at least at the moment.
And just going by my brief time spent at Ft. Irwin’s Iraq-training facility I gather that Rangers such as Max would find living quarters considerably more rugged in the field.
More below!
Bobservations
Big Changes
I’m currently going over the galley proofs of a detective novel I originally wrote back in the 1980s which is now being republished by Brash Books. It’s an L.A. noir pulper that I had a lot of fun writing back in the day, containing a certain amount of gumshoe styling and (surprise!) a large amount of violence.
Thing is, back when it was originally published, the setting was “present day” (as in 1980s) and so required no elaboration, but as I’m rereading it now, I’m realizing that right in the first few pages the main character “drops a dime in a pay phone” (Ten cents? Even assuming you can find a pay phone?) and then spends a quarter on a copy of the LA Times which is “the size of a phone book.” (Yes, newspapers were hugely thick back then, and yes, they cost a quarter. And yes, people actually used phone books.)
I’m not going to try to update it. Attempting to deal with advent of cellphones, computers, GPS, facial recognition scanners and metal detectors would essentially destroy the story, which is very much a product of its period. But I do feel that in order to prevent confusion for the reader I’ll need to stick in a line right up front somewhere that clearly establishes the timeframe. Not a big deal, just something I hadn’t anticipated — just how much has changed in thirty years.
I mean, besides my hair color.
–Bob out
PS — Speaking of period pieces, if you are fond of longforms with nice art (and you must be — you’re here, right?) you might like to take a look at Pepperpot Piper. It’s a Jazz-age webcomic set in San Francisco, and I’m not positive about this, but I gather that the artist/writer (Joseph Kelly) actually hand-paints the pages with oils. Not surprisingly, it only updates every two weeks, but it really is a treat when it does!
Bob, can I get one of those boxes? I’ll just bring it back to your place when it needs a refill. Is there a daily subway route to your house?
I wonder what’s getting Max down. My best guess is that it’s what happens (there is probably a psychology term for it) when someone who is used to having troubles all their life suddenly has good things happening to them, but it feels “wrong” to them and they have trouble accepting it. Or perhaps he isn’t completely sure that he wants to keep doing this, but now feels obligated.
Whatever that is, I think my wife has it.
I’d imagine whatever it is, it’s more simply overwhelming than actually depressing. Seriously, if someone said “I can’t actually pay you, but here’s a bottomless box of money,” I’d probably go a bit speechless too.
I’m with andarb. I think Max may just be overwhelmed with the…uh…whelminess of it all, with a hefty does of the “what did I do to deserve THIS?” type thinking.
I’m not a soldier, but I am the spouse of a soldier who’s been on two deployments to the ‘Stan. He’s told me about the housing both stateside in the Army posts and overseas, and I’ve seen his pictures of the latter.
From that limited experience, I can confirm to you that barracks generally aren’t much better these days than the ones in the old war movies. In fact, they still use the war movie ones–my husband’s stayed in them a time or two.
I showed my husband your video, and he told me that those kinds of barracks are probably only a few months old, and are definitely pretty rare. Also, they really must have made the specialist clean up the place for the video, because no enlisted quarters are THAT clean. 😉
So Max’s comments are right on. The more you know!
I have a question for Celidah, and for anyone who can contribute. Thinking about Max’s discretionary spending fund, I thought that he might get an Xbox for his new place, but then I thought that he might have his fill of fighting and action from his job, and may not be interested in doing more of it in video games.
And that made me wonder about soldiers who have seen combat action. Do they tend to be more interested in combat video games, because it uses the unit skills that they’ve developed and they know how to work together in effective tactical teams? (I’m especially thinking of mult-player games there.) Or do they lean away from fighting in video games because they’ve seen the real horror of it and have no desire to pretend doing more of it?
I was in the military myself, but it was a long time ago and I was never deployed into combat, so I’m very curious whether experiencing actual combat makes a more more or less interested in war video games, or makes no difference. Thanks.
Violent first person shooter games have actually proven to be somewhat useful in treating the early stages of PTSD in troops who have seen lots of action, and possibly delaying it’s onset. Seems counter intuitive, doesn’t it? The prevalence of such games before the war may have helped prepare the latest generation for combat mentally as well. One of the strongest instinctive taboos is against taking another human life. Over the last hundred years training has gradually become more realistic, graduating from shooting bull eye targets to silhouettes to( in my training) pictures that added facial details, uniforms and weapons. In those respects, near photo real digital opponents and realistic sight pictures may be the best stuff short of actual force on force training.
Thanks, CaptEndo. Yes it does seem counter intuitive that engaging in violence realistically portrayed in a video game would help with PTSD. Perhaps it helps to give them a sense of control over a situation which seemed frighteningly beyond their control when they went through it. The mind works in odd ways.
Huh, so MGS4 had a point with that Eastern Europe segment after all.
If you’re unsure of what I’m talking about, it’s part of the spiel between Snake and some very important lady, whose name is a little spoiler-y.
Hey, Paul. I conferred with DH about your question and want to give an answer. Before I do, here’s the big caveat: my husband has not personally been in front-line combat, like yourself, so we don’t have first-hand experience in our family with that. He’s done the training, worked in “hot” areas, and learned much from working with people who come from many different walks in the military. However, this is all third-hand information I’m giving you, so take with as many grains of salt as needed.
That said, my answer is…maybe. Violent games, particularly FPSs, could possibly be triggering, depending on the person in question. Generally though, not really. DH pointed out that video games are contained in a screen, and not a 360-degree perspective, and don’t have any battlefield smells associated with them. Smell can be a big PTSD trigger, and the containment helps lessen the effect on vets. DH said that he knows a lot of infantry guys who haven’t seen combat really enjoy those types of games, but that’s perhaps stating the obvious.
So it really would depend a lot on Max on whether the games would be triggering or not–or possibly even therapeutic.
(As an aside, CaptEndo, I’d be very interested in seeing that research on video games and PTSD therapy. Do you have links or something that I can see? 🙂
But even if Max would shy away from the war FPSs, I can still definitely see him getting an XBox and enjoying some non-Call of Duty-type games. I don’t picture him as a Skyrim or Arkham series type–too “nerdy.” Assassin’s Creed, maybe? Zombie games? I don’t recall if we’ve seen how he feels about sports yet, so maybe he’s a Madden type of guy. I could even picture him kicking back with a less realistic FPS like something in the Halo franchise.
The only person who really knows the answers about Max, of course, would be Bob. 🙂
You don’t have to stay in the ‘gunfire and smoke’ genue, either.
There’s fantasy RPGs, racing games, and many other types.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Max likes Mario Brothers.
That’s true, Valkeiper. I don’t really see Max going for fantasy RPGs, myself. That’s why I mentioned that I think Skyrim would be too nerdy for him. But yeah, possibly racing games or even the Mario games.
I’d personally find it hilarious if he secretly loved Lego games. 🙂
Sure! Here are a few KI just looked up. I admit my original information came from a strategy news group site.
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/tech/mind-games-mental-health-and-virtual-reality/using-virtual-reality-video-games-treat
http://www.thedailybeast.com/the-hero-project/articles/2013/09/26/virtual-reality-video-games-may-be-the-best-treatment-for-ptsd.html
http://www.militarymentalhealth.org/blog/2013/06/can-video-games-help-ptsd/
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-camouflage-couch/201005/video-game-or-treatment-ptsd
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110516121539.htm
As I said, just a few and some of them contradict the others, as well as previous information I had on the subject. Not unexpected, but the key to using VR and games for PTSD therapy appears to be immersion therapy. Repeated exposure to the traumatic events that caused the stress to begin with.
Thanks! It actually does make sense, especially based on what you explained in the last paragraph. It reminds me a bit of those veterans who actually go back to Iraq & Afghanistan, to the places where their traumatic experiences occurred. There was an article that I read some time ago about a vet who lost a leg who did just that, to help with his PTSD. I’ll try to find the link to the article.
Why can’t Max be on the payroll?
In case he gets ID’d on mission. “And ooooh look, here’s his W-9 from CicerTech, we’ll go have a chat with them…”
It’d be a W-4. W-9s are for subcontractors, not employees.
Yes, I just finished with our 1099s. How did you know?