Personal Narrative: How Military Simulation Affected My Life

How Military Simulation Affected My Life

April 13, 2013, the day is finally here, and I had no clue the MAKO Advanced Combat Center (MACC) would change my life for the better. The MACC is a decommissioned NIKE missile base known as KC­10L, now a airsoft field and Law Enforcement training area in Lawson, Missouri. The MACC is close to forty acres, and consists of many old­looking buildings surrounded by a chain link fence with an old security checkpoint at the gate. The buildings were made of brick and painted white with color­coded windows and doors for identification purposes, I was shocked to see two hundred and sixty people dressed in different styles of military camouflage and equipment. Before this day, I barely knew anything about airsoft or military simulation. For those who do not know military simulation (commonly referred to as milsim) is a sport designed to both train, and entertain the player. Airsoft is somewhat like paintball or simunition. The airsoft gun is the tool we use, and is designed to shoot plastic BBs much like a BB gun but safer. In military simulation we fire our airsoft guns at opponents whom are also

In my viewpoint, there is no true military simulation and there is no way for us to truly know what real military simulation is unless we have served in combat ourselves, basically stating, we play for fun. Organizations like American Milsim, Milsim West, or Operation Lion Claws Milsim are organized by people who are current or retired military and or still want to be involved in such circumstances. Important rules such as how many BBs you can carry at a time, respawn rules, rules of engagement also known as the law a soldier must follow before engaging in combat, engagement distances, and other rules are used to make it as close to real combat as