It’s a well-known fact that the streets of Heaven are guarded by United States Marines, but it’s less well-known that the Marine Corps went on the offensive against the legions of Hell.Gaming and the military have gone hand in hand since before gaming reached the general public. Gen. George S. Patton conducted a series of wargames in Louisiana before World War II to test the American military’s training, logistics, and other wartime doctrines. The old MILES gear training was a hardcore version of laser tag. The U.S. Army even created its own video game, “America’s Army,” as a recruiting tool.Also Read: 6 military video games used to train troops on the battlefieldSomewhere between the development of MILES gear and “America’s Army,” the U.S. military saw a way to use video games and young troops’ interest in playing them to further its recruitment and training. The result was “Marine Doom.”  In the game “Doom II,” humans are trying to escape the earth, but demons from hell have constructed a portal that allows them to come to Earth and take lives. The demons’ first target is the sole spaceport from where the humans are going to escape. The “Doomguy,” a Marine, has to blast all the demons back to Hell, then enter Hell itself to kill the chief demon and close the portal. If anyone could do it, it would be the Marines, so why not send them in? “Doom” remains one of the most popular games ever made, and versions of it are still played to this day, despite it first being released for MS-DOS in 1993. Marine Corps Gen. Charles C. Krulak noticed “Doom,” its popularity, and the rise in popularity of other games, and decided it should be integrated into Marine Corps training. Krulak’s reasoning was that the game could teach Marines to work together and improve their military thinking and decision-making ability. He ordered the Marine Combat Development Command to develop, exploit, and approve computer-based wargames to train U.S. Marines for “decision-making skills, particularly when live training time and opportunities were limited.”The Marine Corps Automated Information Systems Office secured a copy of “Doom II, even before it was available to the public, and used it to create a new version of the game, one that focused on mutual fireteam support, protection of the automatic rifleman, sequencing of an attack, ammo discipline, and succession of command. This means that the new Marine Corps version of “Doom” required team members to work in tandem for a stated tactical objective (you know, like Marines in a fireteam), use ammunition conservatively (presumably even when using the BFG9000), and be prepared to take command when their team leader goes down. It also means that just going into a room full of demons and shooting up the place was no longer an option for the Doomguy fireteam, which consisted of a team leader, two riflemen, and a machine gunner, who were all operating from different computers in different rooms during gameplay. The “Marine Doom” mod for “Doom II” also featured fewer biblical scenarios, instead opting for more realistic missions like those that Marines are specifically called on to perform in real life. These include scenes like the destruction of enemy fortifications, hostage rescue missions, and embassy defense. Eventually, word got out that the Marine Corps had created its own version of “Doom” to train Marines, and the “Marine Doom” modification was made available to the public in 1997.  Don’t Miss the Best of We Are The Mighty • A junior enlisted Marine once eloped with Bahrain’s Princess• 104-year-old Marine continues tradition for Corps’ 250th birthday• 7 of the most realistic military games available Marine Corps Technology The Marine Corps used ‘Doom II’ to train Marines to work together By Blake Stilwell History How a Marine NCO was crowned king of a voodoo island in Haiti By Blake Stilwell Resources Everything you need to know about military ranks and what they mean By Jessica Evans History What happened after the TSA confiscated a World War II hero’s Medal of Honor By Daniel Tobias Flint Iraq War The controversial Marine grenade hero of Fallujah that Washington still argues about By Stephen Ruiz The post The Marine Corps used ‘Doom II’ to train Marines to work together appeared first on We Are The Mighty.