Army Launches America’s Army Overmatch Game and Real Heroes Program

September 14, 2006

U.S. ARMY LAUNCHES AMERICA’S
ARMY: SPECIAL FORCES (OVERMATCH)

Game Features Debut of America’s
Army Real Heroes Program Featuring Real Soldiers

The U.S. Army today launched the
America’s Army: Special Forces (Overmatch) game, marking the 22nd update to the
America’s Army PC series and the third major release of America’s Army focused
upon the central role Special Forces play in the Global War on Terrorism.
America’s Army: Special Forces (Overmatch) also marks the launch of the
America’s Army Real Heroes Program in which the U.S. Army provides America’s
Army players insights into the accomplishments of Soldiers who have
distinguished themselves in combat and earned citations for bravery and valor.
The Army’s exceptionally popular computer game, America’s Army, along with a new
line of Real Heroes action figures, will feature these heroic Soldiers and
highlight the actions for which they were awarded citations for valor. America’s
Army: Special Forces (Overmatch) can be downloaded at
www.americasarmy.com.

America’s Army: Special Forces
(Overmatch) also includes:

• Missions featuring cooperative
  gameplay against Artificial Intelligence in which players experience the
  overmatch capabilities that the U.S.

• Army brings to the battlefield to
  engage and defeat much larger hostile forces.

• A “record brief” for each
  player, replicating the records maintained for each Soldier in the Army.
  

• Annotations in this “record brief”
  document players’ successful completion of in-game training from medic to
  Special Forces and summarize their game play history and performance.

• The opportunity to train and
  employ new weapons systems including the Javelin Missile and the CROWS.

• New vehicles, controlled by
  players and Opposing Forces (Enemy AI), which enhance the mobility,
  survivability, and firepower of combat teams.

Introduction of Real Heroes into the
online world of America’s Army provides players with concrete examples of how
Soldiers from across America make profound contributions in the defense of
freedom and how their contributions have fundamentally shaped their personal
development. America’s Army Real Heroes uses videos on the America’s Army
website
www.americasarmy.com to recount the circumstances and actions in which
Army heroes were decorated for valor in the Global War on Terrorism. These
Soldiers will also be presented as interactive characters in training missions
throughout the game and in an interactive Virtual Recruiting Center. In
addition, Real Heroes will be highlighted on the official U.S. Army site
www.goarmy.com and as
collectable action figures available at major retail outlets in the coming
months.

“The America’s Army Real Heroes
program puts a face on some of the exceptional Soldiers who are at the forefront
in defending our freedoms. With Real Heroes young adults can learn about the
accomplishments of some of the heroic men and women that make the Army the
world’s premier land force,” said Colonel Casey Wardynski, Project Director for
America’s Army.

The America’s Army Real Heroes are
but a few of the Soldiers in today’s Army who have exhibited exceptional
gallantry and bravery. America’s Army Real Heroes have earned some of the
nation’s highest awards for valor including the Distinguished Service Cross,
Silver Star, and Bronze Star for Valor. They are emblematic of the more than
1,700 Army heroes who have earned such awards for action in the Global War on
Terrorism. These Soldiers embody the Warrior Ethos – a Soldier will always place
the mission first, never accept defeat, never quit, and never leave a fallen
comrade.

The Soldiers who comprise the
initial cadre of Real Heroes include:

• Staff Sergeant Timothy Nein, 503d
  Military Police Battalion, Distinguished Service Cross for heroism in
  Operation Iraqi Freedom.

• Sergeant Tommy Riemen, 51st Long
  Range Surveillance Infantry (Airborne), Silver Star for heroism in Operation
  Iraqi Freedom.

• Sergeant First Class Gerald
  Wolford, 82nd Airborne, Silver Star for heroism in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
  

• Sergeant Matthew Zedwick, 2-162
  Infantry, Silver Star for heroism in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

• Sergeant Leigh Hester, 503d
  Military Police Battalion, Silver Star for heroism in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
  

• Sergeant Jason Mike, 503d Military
  Police Battalion, Silver Star for valor in Operation Enduring Freedom in
  Afghanistan.

• Master Sergeant Scott Neil, 5th
  Special Forces Group, Bronze Star for valor in Operation Enduring Freedom in
  Afghanistan.

• Major Jason Amerine, 5th Special
  Forces Group, Bronze Star for valor for in Operation Enduring Freedom in
  Afghanistan.