Ms. Pac-Man is more my speed, but last week, I found myself playing Mortal Kombat in a dark trailer straight out of a sci-fi film.
With eerie green lighting, the trailer had gaming towers, giant surround-style screens and reclining chairs along each side of the interior. It was “equipped with the latest for competitive multi-platform gaming,” according to the U.S. Army.
On the surface, it’s tricked out for fun and an esports fan’s nirvana.
Norma De Leon and Carter Heggins, juniors at Denham Springs High School, try their hand at Mortal Kombat in the U.S. Army’s esports traveling trailer. April 10, 2025.
Esports — competitive multiplayer video games often played for spectators — may seem an unlikely recruiting tool, but the Army has figured out that the hand/eye coordination required for video games is a skill that transfers well to defend the country. Video game wizards can transfer their skills to operating drones, working with other emerging threats or put them to use in another area of technology.
To be clear, the Army will not be recruiting me for my mad video gaming skills.
“These are going to be your buttons that you use the high punch, low punch, high kick and low kick,” Sgt. Scott Brooks explained to me, despite my never having played Mortal Kombat before.
While Mortal Kombat is brutal fantasy, Brooks’ real-world missions have taken him to places with firsthand views of unpixelated life and death. Brooks has traveled to Iraq, Afghanistan, Qatar, Kuwait, Italy, Belgium, Cameroon, Germany and more.
Now, he travels with the esport trailer 280 to 310 days a year.
“Before I joined, I didn’t even know you could be a photographer in the military,” he said as we prepared to play Mortal Kombat.
Once I was settled into a recliner, Brooks asked me to pick a character.
“Is this one a good guy?” I asked.
His answer confirmed parallels between video games and real life.
“Well, whether they’re a good guy or not in the story mode doesn’t matter when you’re fighting each other,” Brooks said. “‘Cause the goal is to beat the other person. You know what I’m saying?”
Columnist Jan Risher looks away from the giant screen displaying Mortal Kombat in the U.S. Army’s esports trailer, as Sgt. Scott Brooks defeats her in the video game.
I tried, but the carnage in the game was so realistic that I couldn’t force myself to look much. Brooks tried his best to give me a fighting chance.
Finally, he said, “Miss, you’re going to have to look at the screen if you want to hit me.”
As realistic as the graphics are, the game concept is completely unrealistic regarding life and death. After the sergeant would bust my on-screen character’s head into a thousand pieces, my character would jump back up and go at it again.
While I could not finish the video game part of the experience quickly enough, many of the students appreciate the fancy video game setup.
Cpt. Terron Riggins said the esports trailer sheds a new light on the military for some.
“A lot of people just go off what they see on social media and what they see in the movies,” Riggins said. “As far as the gaming opportunities we offer through the military, it kind of widens the scope of what they see the Army as.”
In short, Riggins says the concept works. Gaming can open the door for some kids who may have never considered the military — gaming can be a good place to start the conversation.
Denham Springs High School freshmen Christopher Villagomez and William Dupas play each other in a game of Mortal Kombat in the U.S. Army’s traveling esports trailer on April 10, 2025.
Denham Springs High freshman Christopher Villagomez and his friend William Dupas signed up to play the games under a small tent near the gaming trailer. Then, the pair climbed the steps into the heavily air-conditioned trailer. Once there, Villagomez soundly defeated Dupas in Mortal Kombat.
Between classes, Villagomez came for the games — not the Army talk — but he left thinking about both.
Norma De Leon, a junior at Denham Springs High, entered the trailer as the freshmen were leaving. De Leon said she has already decided to join the military. She wants to work in the medical field.
Her friend Carter Heggins joined her for the video games. He said he’s considering joining the military too — and that he loves to play video games.
“I’m a nerd,” Heggins said.
Columnist Jan Risher deadlifts 150 pounds at a U.S. Army recruiting event at Denham Springs High School on April 10, 2025. U.S. Army recruits are required to deadlift 150 pounds for a minimum of three repetitions.
Meanwhile, camouflage-clad soldiers stood along the edge of the shadows of the small tent outside the trailer, waiting for other students to approach.
A barbell was in the center of the tent. One of the soldiers explained that recruits need to be able to deadlift at least 150 pounds. Another soldier made a comment about a woman in a dress and heels trying to deadlift — and I couldn’t resist trying.
So, I did.
Turns out, brute strength may be more my military asset than pixelated punches.
Like the students, I came for the experience and left with questions — about war, work and the strange places conversations begin.
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