The U.S. Navy is playing games on Reddit in an attempt to draw in recruits for submarine crews.
The Navy is one of theworst performersand has failed to recruit sailors consistently over the last few years.
The reasons why are complicated.
An Ohio-class submarine approaches the Mubarak Peace Bridge while transiting the Suez Canal, Nov. 5. The boat is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to help support maritime security and stability in the Middle East region.© U.S. Navy photo.
Decades of unpopular foreign wars have tarnished the reputation of the military.
Americans are also more unhealthy than theyve been in generations and cant meet the basic physical requirements.
All of that adds up to fewer people joining the military.
All the branches have gotten creative in the last decade as theyve tried to drum up recruits.
The Navy, and other branches, were already advertising on Reddit.
The augmented reality game is just an evolution of that tactic.
The Navy has released two of the games and will release more as the month rolls along.
The first is a long list ofredacted statementsthat users click to clear away.
Underneath the bars are clues that could help interested recruits track down the first hidden sub.
The second game is anaudio puzzle.
The former sailor said the audio was old fashioned.
We rarely actually listened to the noises.
We mostly just look at the displays of the sounds, you get a waterfall display, he said.
The last puzzle is set to go live on October 28.
Its unclear if the strategy will work.
Navy Recruiting Command did not immediately return Gizmodos request for comment.
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