A giant traveling video game exhibit that serves as an Army recruiting tool will bypass this year’s Cleveland National Air Show after it was targeted for protests in 2008.

The 19,500-square-foot attraction called Virtual Army Experience allows kids as young as 13 to play soldier in modified Humvees armed with realistic weapons.

The Northeast Ohio chapter of Veterans for Peace objected to its presence at last year’s air show, claiming it trivializes combat and desensitizes participants to violence. Earlier this month, Cleveland Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich asked Congress to eliminate money for the project.

Although the exhibit was at Cleveland’s air show in 2007 and 2008, it’s not scheduled to attend this year’s Labor Day weekend event, said Cleveland Air Show Executive Director Chuck Newcomb.

The Army has not indicated it has any intention of sending it, said Newcomb, who said he would have been notified if it was coming. Newcomb said that 60,000 to 80,000 people attend the air show each year, and the only complaints were from the veterans group.

He said this year’s show will include airborne acrobatics from the Air Forces Thunderbirds stunt flying team and appearances by the Marine Corps Harrier plane, which is known for its ability to take off and land vertically. He said every armed services branch recruits at the air show, and the military planes are sent to Cleveland as a recruiting tool.

Newcomb said he visited the Virtual Army Experience and did not find it objectionable.

"We’re about airplanes," he said. "The display was just that: a display."

Virtual Army Experience Public Affairs Manager Amy Lindstrom confirmed the exhibit isn’t scheduled to visit Cleveland this year, but said last year’s protests had nothing to do with its itinerary. She said the attraction can visit roughly 40 events around the country each year, that it has been requested by more than 80 air shows alone in 2009, and its schedule is dictated by the logistical challenges of transporting it between venues.

It is not on the schedule at this time, Lindstrom said.

Mary Reynolds Powell of Cleveland, a former Army nurse in Vietnam who heads the local chapter of Veterans for Peace, said the Army exhibit offended her group because putting people in a Humvee and giving them a rifle to shoot at human-sized figures on a wraparound video screen glorifies violence.

"I am pleased the exhibit is not coming this year and I attribute that to the wide-scale community response to it a year ago," Powell said.

"War," said Kucinich, "is not a game. The Virtual Army Experience is an unfortunate recruiting tool. Our community suffers enough violence, without having it minimized. I am glad that the proponents of the VAE have acknowledged the public opposition to their exhibit and have decided to bypass Cleveland, but simulating war for recruitment purposes is controversial in all communities."

The above content is credited to Sabrina Eaton with Plain Dealer Washington Bureau. To view the source, please click here.

Or to see more stories relevant to this topic, click any headline below:

A Young Man Changed by War

Army Strong?- Vet Unemployment Rate at 21 Percent (March 2010 Newsletter feature)

20% of American Suicides Are Vets

Advice for Our Soldiers in Afghanistan

Troubled Iraq Vet Charged with Murder Dies

1,000 U.S. Soldier Suicides

Schofield Soldier Faces Hearing On Murder Charge

One-Third of Women in U.S. Military Raped

Duty to Warn

90% of Phone Calls to VA Go Unanswered

p>Army Doctors Could Face Discipline in Fort Hood Case

Soldier Guilty of Cruelty, Maltreatment in Iraq

Two Fort Hood Soldiers Charged in the Death of a Third

Staff Sgt. Megan Krause and Her PTSD

Soldier Suicide Attempt Shuts Down Busy Highway

Fort Knox Soldier Indicted on Murder Charges

San Diego Soldier Commits Suicide

Military Family Comes to Grips with Soldier’s Suicide

U.S. Army Captain Accused of War Crime

The Breaking Point

Iraq War Vet Sentenced in Sandy Bank Robbery

Pentagon Desperately Plays Catch-Up

Military Study Points to Yet Another Rise in Suicide Attempts

Stressed Soldiers Forced to Go Absent

Protests Over the Army’s Gaming Center

Experts Warn of Impending Epidemic

Despite Army’s Efforts, Soldier Suicides Still Rising

White House Says U.S. Will Be Out of Afghanistan by 2017

Fort Carson Soldier Gets 2 Life Sentences (November 2009 Newsletter feature, Join Our Newsletter)

Invisible Wounds Hamper Vets’ Job Prospects

Soldier Suicide Rate to Top Last Year's

Stand Down Acknowledges Homeless Vet Epidemic

Each Day, 18 American Vets Commit Suicide

Parents of U.S. Soldier Who Killed Himself in Iraq Speak Out

Continued Failure at Ft Bragg to Keep Barracks in Living Condition

Testimony Details Treatment of Plymouth Soldier

Some Near Austin Fight Center Meant to Help Female Veterans

The Growing Cost of Combat Stress

Soldier Wanted for Murder Commits Suicide

Consistent Protesting at Army Experience Center

Soldier’s Dad Seeks Answers in Son’s Suicide

5 Life Sentences for U.S. Army’s Steven Dale Green

Struggling with Deployment

War Trauma May Cause Cognitive Problems

Anti-Americanism on the Rise in Pakistani Media

Doctors Eye Link Between PTSD and Alcoholism

Contractors Outnumber Troops in Afghanistan by Greatest Ratio in U.S. History

One U.S. Soldier Charged with Shooting Another after a Gang Fight

Former U.S. Soldier Apologizes for Vietnam Massacre

Twenty Thousand Homeless Veterans in Los Angeles County Alone (August 2009 Newsletter feature)

Cast Out from Cleveland, VAE Finds a Venue in Youngstown, Ohio

Enlisting in the Military and the Decision to Kill

The Hell of War Comes Home

Multiple Bombs Slowly Destroy the Brain of U.S. Soldier

Desensitization through Re-Branding

Soldier’s Family Takes Legal Fight Online (July 2009 Newsletter feature)

Cut Military Spending 25% by 2010

VAE Still Shamelessly Militarizing Our Youth with Your Tax Dollars

Soldier’s Disturbing MySpace Post Will Not Be Heard in His Double Murder Trial

VAE Still Seeking to Seduce Young Air Show Attendees

Success for Army Experience Center Is Defeat for Supporting the Troops

Vets, Military Families and Voters Shut Down Army Experience Center

VAE Will Emerge Again in the Deep South, Will Protests Follow?

Kucinich Moves to Cease Funding for “Deceptive” VAE

U.S. Army Gives Up Pushing “War as Video Game” at Cleveland Air Show

Some Good Guidance for America’s Army Players and Recruiters

Shamelessly Militarizing Our Youngest Citizens

U.S. Army Hires on SalesForce.com to Help Recruiting at AEC

YouthMarketing.com’s Report on the VAE and Army Experience Center

Arcade or Recruitment Center?

Army Experience Center

Footage of Army Using Video Games to Attract Minors

Army Looks for Soldiers Near Arcades, Skate Parks

Army Entices Kids with "Brand Experiences"

Canadian Musicians Getting Attention in U.S.

A Poor Excuse for Real (October 2008 Newsletter feature)

America's Army Targets Youth

Los Angeles Ad Agency's VAE Continues to Attract Suspicion

Questionable Design and Management (see ALL 3 pictures)

Vets Protest America's Army Video Game

War Is Not A Game