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Army's "Spiritual Fitness" Test Comes Under Fire
 

Test Was Designed by Psychologist Who Inspired CIA's Torture Program

An experimental, Army mental-health, fitness initiative designed by the same psychologist whose work heavily influenced the psychological aspects of the Bush administration's torture program is under fire by civil rights groups and hundreds of active-duty soldiers. They say it unconstitutionally requires enlistees to believe in God or a "higher power" in order to be deemed "spiritually fit" to serve in the Army.

Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) is a $125 million "holistic fitness program" unveiled in late 2009 and aimed at reducing the number of suicides and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) cases, which have reached epidemic proportions over the past year due to multiple deployments to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the substandard care soldiers have received when they return from combat. The Army states that it can accomplish its goal by teaching its service members how to be psychologically resilient and resist "catastrophizing" traumatic events. Defense Department documents obtained by Truthout state CSF is Army Chief of Staff George Casey's "third highest priority."

CSF is comprised of the Soldier Fitness Tracker and Global Assessment Tool, which measures soldiers' "resilience" in five core areas: emotional, physical, family, social and spiritual. Soldiers fill out an online survey made up of more than 100 questions, and if the results fall into a red area, they are required to participate in remedial courses in a classroom or online setting to strengthen their resilience in the disciplines in which they received low scores. The test is administered every two years. More than 800,000 Army soldiers have taken it thus far.

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U.S. Army, Air Force Enlist Augmented Reality from Total Immersion to Attract, Engage New Recruits

LOS ANGELES --(Business Wire)--G.I. Joe has nothing on the real thing. Especially when the armed forces go reality one better.

Taking their recruiting efforts to a new level via two distinct experimental marketing initiatives, the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force have embraced augmented reality, deployed by Total Immersion (www.t-immersion.com), the global leader in AR - solutions that educate and motivate as they engage. The Army campaign was created by Momentum Worldwide's Chicago-based team and TimeZoneOne, also of Chicago, while GSD&M Idea City of Austin, Texas developed the Air Force campaign.

The U.S. Army's "Race for Strength Challenge" pits a fully tricked out, Army-sponsored NASCAR vehicle -- Ryan Newman's #39 Army Chevrolet Impala -- against the Army's high-tech fleet, placing potential recruits into the action, via the Web (www.goarmy.com/raceforstrength) and through kiosks installed at select NASCAR events. At the kiosks and online, players can race against MRAP and Stryker armored vehicles, through various (sometimes treacherous) environments. Players control vehicles by means of a card or printout featuring a tracked image and a steering wheel. The game is featured in the billboard promo loop on the goarmy.com homepage.

This racing game is an extension of the U.S. Army's continuing effort to showcase its high-tech skills training and the various options and career opportunities it offers.

"Army - Race for Strength," the newest element in the interactive, participatory Strength in Action Zone exhibit at major NASCAR and NHRA races, made its debut simultaneously in four locations: at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., during Speed Week preceding NASCAR's Daytona 500; at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif., as part of festivities surrounding the NHRA's Kragen O'Reilly Winternationals; at McCormick Place at the Chicago International Automobile Show; and online.

At the same time, the U.S. Air Force has kicked off "Command Center Alpha," its newest mobile marketing tour (http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123201086). Command Center Alpha is an AR mobile tour experience that immerses visitors in the "sci-fi" world of the Air Force. The interactive tour includes 3-D computer graphics, videos, educational kiosks, digital downloads and a full-size F-16 Thunderbird display. Visitors use handheld devices, which rely on natural image tracking, enabling them to experience augmented reality in the form of 3-D animations and video.

The mobile marketing tour is an extension of the Air Force's sci-fi advertising campaign, which showcases technology that was once regarded as science fiction, but that the Air Force is actually deploying today. Against that backdrop, Command Center Alpha highlights�the variety of job opportunities the Air Force offers. The mobile tour got under way at the Suwannee River Jam in Live Oak, Fla. on April 21, and will include stops at major events and venues throughout the summer.

Calendar: Air Force Command Center Alpha Tour Dates, June-July 2010

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By Nathan Human based on this piece of bullshit

The following article  from the UK Guardian (the one guarding the Queen) attempts to subtly diffuse the uproar over American military spending in a very sophisticated way. It starts out comparing the US military budget (whose accuracy I seriously doubt i.e. likely a lot bigger than presented). Then it proceeds to compare military spending of various countries as a proportion of GDP, demonstrating that Myanmar leads the way with 25% of its GDP devoted to military spending, dwarfing Americas 4% (NOTE: This is because the US GDP is over 15 trillion, thus 607$ billion of this (ITS ACTUALLY WAY MORE THAN THIS THOUGH WHAT A LIE!!!!!!) is roughly 4%. Myanmar polices its own country, as the US polices everyone else that's but one fundamental difference.

So what is the Guardian really attempting to do here? It would appear to be a rationalization of the US spending over twice as much on "defense" as Africa owes to the global banker infestation.

They conclude on this note:

"So is the US an "aggressive, war-mongering military machine" obsessed with spending on defense and plumping up its armed forces? Perhaps, the numbers say, not."

I actually appreciate that they would put this all in perspective but indeed it is painfully misleading.

Here is what they are trying not to say: If you are from a rich enough country it wont cost your plutocrats a significant portion of your GDP to police the rest of the world, and thus you are not an "aggressive, war-mongering military machine"!!! THAT'S IT! THAT'S ALL SON!!! Never mind the article has the word "beautiful: in the title!!!

Awe... the US of Israel spends so little of their massive wealth on weapons, how civilized, all countries should trim down to 4% to make Americas job easier!!!

They also add:
"First of all, the enormity of the US military budget is not just down to a powerful military-industrial complex. America is a rich country.

In fact, it's vastly rich. So its budget is bound to dwarf the others."

Never mind the fact that they are in debt 12 trillion dollars (conservatively) and couldn't engineer a technologically obsolescent product if they wanted too!!!
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