Marines are using virtual reality pugil sticks to recruit the next generation
The pugil stick simulator is part of Marine recruiting events that also include ammo can lifts and pull-ups.
BY JEFF SCHOGOL | PUBLISHED AUG 22, 2022 1:29 PM
Station Commanders across the 8th Marine Corps District (8MCD) participate in Battle Position at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base (NAS JRB) Fort Worth, Texas, Aug. 11, 2022. The Mobile Marketing Team set up the simulator for Marines across 8MCD to test out for future Enhanced Area Canvassing events. Battle Position incorporates virtual reality while challenging participants to earn the highest aggregate score of 3 events: pull-ups, ammo can lifts, and a simulated pugil stick battle. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Hannah Hollerud).
Few events capture raw aggression more than pugil sticks, a rite of passage for Marines at boot camp that involves two recruits trying to clobber each other with padded pole weapons whilst their brothers or sisters and arms cheer with each hit.
Looking at the foam-covered carnage, one might be tempted to recall Theodore Roosevelt’s famous quote about “The Man in the Arena,” or the now defunct television show American Gladiators, both of which capture the brutal intimacy of hand-to-hand combat.
Now the Marines are simulating the pugil stick experience to give people interested in joining the Corps a taste of what they would do in boot camp. Earlier this month recruiting station commanders tested out how to use the pugil stick simulator as part of Battle Position, a mass recruiting event that also includes challenging potential poolees to max out their scores on pull-ups and ammunition can lifts, according to the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service.
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/marine-corps-boot-recruiting-pugil-stick-simulator/
