America's Army Survival Guide - Training
by James Saunders
October 13, 2006
Introduction
Main Interface
Basic Training
Advanced Marksmanship
Airborne School
Medic Training
Special Forces Training
Advanced Individual Training
Introduction
Welcome to America's Army, soldier! For one reason or another, you have been compelled to leave the world of run-and-gun and take it upon yourself to learn the true art of modern (virtual) combat. Unlike other games in the first-person genre, America's Army requires you to undergo training before playing missions - but this is ultimately to your benefit, as it will teach in-game navigation, enhance your marksmanship, and possibly leave you with some real-life knowledge and skills. This guide is designed to help new players advance through the training and become potent online soldiers.
New to version 2.7 (released September 2006) is the
Explore the Army feature, which allows you to jump into the game on ten different missions without any training completed. However, no experience points or player statistics are gained in this mode.
Before starting your virtual Army career, you need to create an America's Army account. Visit the
America's Army Account Management website to register if you have not already done so. The Account Management website also allows you to view your complete profile history, including experience, completed training, and tours of duty.
Main Interface
The introductory panel provides America's Army news and contents updates, and it is where you enter your login information (as registered on americasarmy.com). Once you are logged in, select 'Main Menu' to access the game features.
The Record Brief keeps track of experience points (known as "honor"), player and weapon statistics, and completion of training; and allows you to customize your SOPMOD M4A1 loadout.
The M4A1 Mods panel allows you to select modifications for the M4A1 on Special Forces missions. You can create up to five 'sets' of mods for use in varying combat scenarios.
Some recommended sets are as follows:
Set 1 - Acog 4x/Harris Bipod/Suppressor
Set 2 - Acog 4x/M203 Grenade Launcher/Suppressor
Set 3 - M68 Aimpoint/M203 Grenade Launcher/Suppressor
Real Heroes or 'Virtual Recruting Center' is the place where you can "talk" to four distinguished soldiers of the U.S. Army. Each one offers biographical information, medals and citations awarded, and videos about his Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) and valor in combat - the last of which gives a one-time 3% experience bonus for watching.
Basic Training
Completion required to participate in all missions
Basic Rifle Marksmanship is the first and most critical tested skill in America's Army - after all, you cannot expect to defeat the enemy unless you can aim that rifle! The training instructor will welcome you, then direct you to the armorer. He will first order you to unsling your rifle (press '1'), and then to clear a jam (press 'J'). Then walk up to the firing coach in your lane and press 'F' to begin. You are given two twenty-round magazines for practice - load the first one (press 'R') and wait for the instructor to give the order to fire. Bring up your ironsights (right mouse button) to aim at the targets and time your shots between breaths (press 'left mouse' to fire - you already knew that, right?). Since you will have to engage the 50-300 meter targets in both fighting and prone position, once the first magazine is empty, reload and assume the prone position (press 'X'). When the second magazine runs dry, the test will commence. The requirement for successful completion of basic marksmanship is this: Given 40 targets, you must engage and hit 23 in the prone supported, prone unsupported, and crouched positions. Reload and wait for the instructor to give the command, then bring up your ironsights. When a target pops up, aim at its center - waiting for the breath when time allows - and fire. Even if you miss, fire only once so that you are able to engage every target - this gives you the opportunity to get the highest possible score. While a score of 23 is sufficient to pass, you will nevertheless want a higher score, as 36 or above earns you the Expert Marksman badge and eligibility for Advanced Marksmanship training.
-Obstacle Course
-US Weapons
-MOUT (Shoot House)
Advanced Marksmanship
Completion required to serve as an Advanced Marksman
The M24 marksmanship exercise tests your long-range marksmanship with the M24 Sniper Weapon System. You are allowed up to fifty practice shots on the target silhouettes before being given the test target: a white silhouette at 800 meters. Center the crosshairs on the target, wait for the breath to finish, and fire. You have unlimited time, but only one shot. Successful completion results in the ability to deploy the M24 SWS in-game and eligibility for M82 training.
The M82 marksmanship exercise tests your extreme-range marksmanship with the M82 Special Applications Scoped Rifle. You are again allowed practice shots before receving your test target: a piece of unexploded ordnance. Timing is even more critical than the previous test for scoring a hit, due to the smaller breadth of the target and the lesser accuracy of the M82 (as compared with the M24).
Airborne School
Completion required to participate in Airborne missions
-250' Tower (Don't look down! just kidding)
-Live Jump
Medic Training
Completion required to serve as combat medic
Airway Management, Control Bleeding, and Treat Shock: These three units each consist of a class lecture followed by a test. Pay careful attention to the presented information so that you can get passing scores on the tests – you may even want to take notes (consider it an open-book test).
Field Training: This test requires you to locate and treat wounded soldiers, giving first priority to the most life-threatening injuries. After the initial briefing you will hear an explosion, followed by the order to seek out the casualties. Follow the red symbols on the Situational Awareness Indicator (lower left of the screen) to locate each soldier and look directly at the soldier to determine the extent of injury. When you have found the worst-injured soldier, press and hold 'F' to treat him. Then do the same with the other two – make sure to treat them in the correct order, or else you will fail!
Special Forces Training
Completion required to participate in Special Forces missions
The Airplane, Vehicle, and Weapons Identification (AVWID) exercise tests your ability to identify various friendly and enemy aircraft, vehicles, weapons, and personnel. Pay attention to the presentation and take a moment to memorize the information around the walls of the classroom. Taking notes is definitely a good idea for this exam.
Escape and Evade is arguably the most difficult of the training exercises, requiring you to navigate a heavily-guarded valley undetected to the extraction point. When the transport drops you off, make your way toward the objective marked on the SAI, using natural features (trees and rocks) as cover. Deploy your binoculars (press 'B') to scan the hilltops for guards, and assume the prone position as soon as you see the first one (he will be on your left side). You also have to negotiate towers with search lights - staying quiet and in the dark is essential for those areas. Should you ever hear a voice calling out, get to cover quickly - a guard has noticed or heard your movement. If you are 'caught,' you return to the previous objective - which is a lot better than having to start over, but is still inconvenient. Crawling and taking your time is the best strategy for completing this final segment of training.
Advanced Individual Training
Required to drive or operate the Up-Armored CROWS HMMVW, and to deploy the Javelin Anti-Armor Weapon - Coming Soon
-Javelin Training
-HMMVW Driver Training
-CROWS Gunner
America's Army Game Training (Official Website)
*This guide is a work in progress. Only the training portion of America's Army has been covered so far, but other areas will be added with time. Any questions pertaining to the game or concerning the PROgaming America's Army Squadron should be posted in this thread, alternatively, send a private message to colsaunders2*
