Shortly after the end of a tank combat during the Gulf War, a team of US
Army historians, scientists, and engineers flew to Iraq to gather detailed
data of the battle. The collected information was used to create an exact
virtual simulation of the combat for training. The mapping capability
– offered by the resulting simulation game 73 Easting – to visualize the
battlefield from any position and point in time revolutionized military
exercises. With ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, these digital training
cartographies are now linked to real bodies and vehicles through digital
and mobile technologies during live training in artificially constructed
villages. This chapter analyses this evolution and critically investigates
the growing ‘gamification’ ensuing in these representations of Middle
Eastern battlefields.
