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US hires over 2k video gamers as air traffic controllers

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Re: US hires over 2k video gamers as air traffic controllers

#131

Post by budman1 »

righthand wrote: post #127
lbriner wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think what has already gone wrong with US Air Command having drone pilots for foreign wars based in shipping containers in Texas. Starts off as surreal/not morally challenging, and then it sinks in, these are real people. Also, I am not on the frontline with my comrades so am I a coward? Can I face my family tonight after this.

You are not on the front lines but USA does not have military service requirement and hasn’t been defending itself for well over half a century now. The drone pilot is not on the front lines but they were never killing people to protect the country (as we haven’t had to defend the homeland for over half a century). Most people join the modern day military so they can have a chance to kill people, not because the coun…

"Most people join the modern day military so they can have a chance to kill people".

Strong disagree.

Jobs training, money for college. Exciting way to spend your 20's (99% of the military does not directly kill anyone). Patriotism, family tradition.

Re: US hires over 2k video gamers as air traffic controllers

#133

Post by singleshot_ »

avgDev wrote: post #63
blooalien wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America%27s_Army ?

I played this game! It was a buggy mess and really unintuitive compared to battlefield.

I dunno. If I woke up on a battlefield the first thing I’d probably do is poke my head up to figure out what’s going on and doubtless, I’d be immediately killed.

Americas Army was the most intuitive game I ever played.

Re: US hires over 2k video gamers as air traffic controllers

#135

Post by thoughtpalette »

ramesh31 wrote: post #122
avgDev wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I played this game! It was a buggy mess and really unintuitive compared to battlefield.

>I played this game! It was a buggy mess and really unintuitive compared to battlefield. America's Army was actually a pretty respectable FPS at the time and had it's own niche in the gaming community. There was a huge hole in the market in the early 2000s for anything realistic modern warfare related; CounterStrike was pretty much it. Everything else was stuck in the WW2 fad (CoD 1/2, MoH, Red Orchestra, BF1942) or…

Seconding this. America's Army (AA) was very popular and well liked, especially because it was free IIRC. Medal of Honor:Allied Assault is another addition to the above list.

I miss Tribes

Re: US hires over 2k video gamers as air traffic controllers

#136

Post by mcv »

jmpeax wrote: post #75
comrade1234 wrote: post #4

I had a coworker from the democratic republic of Congo who insisted that if he was back home he would do ok fighting because he played lots of first-person shooters. I mean he was 100% serious about this. We argued about it. He got a commitment from our employer to pay his undergrad tuition. But he disappeared one day, probably went home to fight and die. I search for him every now and then but I think he's gone. I t…

The types of skills from FPS games and real fighting are much further apart than gaming and ATC. A closer analogy would be a coworker who knows Judo is needed for Greco-Roman wrestling. Very different sports with different rules, but the skills in building and navigating a mental map of the environment carry over.

I think FPS skills might translate very well to drone operator.

Re: US hires over 2k video gamers as air traffic controllers

#137

Post by SkyMarshal »

It's not a terrible idea, especially if they find people who are already good at one of the many Air Traffic Control realistic sim videogames:

https://store.steampowered.com/search?term=%22air+traffic%22...

https://bigfatsimulations.com/game/approachcontrolremastered

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/unmatched-air-traffic-control/...

Re: US hires over 2k video gamers as air traffic controllers

#138

Post by SkyMarshal »

madrox wrote: post #35
_--__--__ wrote: post #8

ATCs are chronically understaffed in a way that endangers all of us, and the FAA has been under scrutiny for their hiring practices for over a decade https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39184451 It's equally plausible to me that this is an example of "we need to try something and this is something" or just deflection from the prior criticism.

As trying things go, it doesn’t seem that crazy of an idea. I imagine air traffic control would even make for a pretty fun video game.

Apparently it does, there are tons of ATC games.

https://store.steampowered.com/search?term=%22air+traffic%22...

https://bigfatsimulations.com/game/approachcontrolremastered

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/unmatched-air-traffic-control/...

Re: US hires over 2k video gamers as air traffic controllers

#139

Post by SkyMarshal »

thoughtpalette wrote: post #135
ramesh31 wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I played this game! It was a buggy mess and really unintuitive compared to battlefield. America's Army was actually a pretty respectable FPS at the time and had it's own niche in the gaming community. There was a huge hole in the market in the early 2000s for anything realistic modern warfare related; CounterStrike was pretty much it. Everything else was stuck in the WW2 fad (CoD 1/2, MoH, Red Orchestra, BF1942) or…

Seconding this. America's Army (AA) was very popular and well liked, especially because it was free IIRC. Medal of Honor:Allied Assault is another addition to the above list. I miss Tribes

Tribes, Tribes Renegades, and Tribes Ultra Renegades were some of the most fun I've ever had in videogames.

Re: US hires over 2k video gamers as air traffic controllers

#140

Post by altmanaltman »

ViktorRay wrote: post #118

Wait after reading the article it simply says that many of these hired people also play video games. Their definition of “video gamer” is literally just somebody who says they play games. I don’t see what the big deal is. Lots of young people play games every now and then. Many medical students play video games. You don’t see articles saying “America’s new surgeons…are video gamers!”

If the medical school put out adverts like this and specially asked "gamers" to apply then it is okay to focus on it: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/10/us/politics/air-traffic-c...

yes many of them also play video games and they were specifically focused on this recruitment drive. it wasn't a side effect that just happens to correlate

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