Does the Military Use Laser Tag to Train its Soldiers?

This fantastic question landed in my inbox recently and I think it’s worth discussing how Western forces train to fight so they can fight like they train.

First, the answer to the question is “yes!” NATO uses laser tag technology to wargame and train against other friendly units.

The US and its allies also use a unique form of paintball (simunition) for certain scenarios and, believe it or not, we often use live ammunition.

Let’s dive into the fascinating world of force-on-force training for combat.

Laser Tag or Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES)

Inspired by the original Star Wars in 1977, entrepreneur George A Carter III created the world’s first laser-based scored arena game.

By 1984, Carter opened his take on a laser tag arena in Dallas, Texas, called Photon.

Shortly after, in 1986, the electronic toy company Worlds of Wonder, the makers of the Teddy Ruxpin talking bear, released Lazer Tag (intentionally misspelled with a ‘z’) which included two guns and sensor vests for kids.

Not gonna lie… Christmas in 1986 was epic.

And laser tag is still going strong today. Here’s an image of me using a modern laser tag toy to rain hellfire and destruction down on my children from an elevated position in my backyard (circa 2018):