One U.S. Army unit is getting creative to keep soldiers from walking out the door: let them play the new “Grand Theft Auto VI” video game.
An Army unit at Fort Stewart, Georgia, is offering active-duty soldiers a four-day pass to play the long-awaited latest installment in the storied franchise when it launches this fall — but only if they reenlist, U.S. officials told CBS News. Twenty soldiers in the 9th Brigade Engineer Battalion, part of the 3rd Infantry Division, have already taken the deal, an Army spokesperson said. About 130 are eligible, and they must reenlist for at least two years and up to six.
“The idea was to have a unique incentives program that connects to what Soldiers are interested in,” Lt. Col. Angel Tomko, a spokesperson for the 3rd Infantry Division, said in a statement. “The command team, in conjunction with the career counselor, wanted to get soldiers excited to reenlist.”
The perk has been proposed for a single battalion, though the Army said it could expand. Rockstar Games’ “GTA VI” is due Nov. 19, with the last installment dating to 2013.
The retention gambit comes as other corners of the military show signs of strain.
Eleven retired generals warned in a court filing that President Donald Trump’s deployments to Los Angeles and Washington risked “feelings of isolation and low morale.” Troops on the LA mission have said morale “is not great” and that they feel “used,” with one Marine Corps veteran saying they were being used as “political pawns.”
National Guard members in Washington have been described as demoralized, and NPR has reported growing “disquiet” in the ranks, fueled by the Iran war.
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