Army “experience” marks one year at mall

A unique Army recruiting station in Philadelphia is just over a year old.

A unique Army recruiting station in Philadelphia is just over a year old.

Listen:
[audio: 090914tmaexp.mp3]

The Army Experience at the Franklin Mills Mall is over 14 thousand square feet, about four times the size of an average mall shoe store. It is packed with computer games and video simulators that are a combination of recruiting and public education tool. Captain Jared Auchey is the company commander of the center. He says the military uses the facility to break stereotypes.

Auchey: we really think that we have formed a lot of great partnerships locally, as well as let a lot of young people know about their army and talk to a lot of soldiers, so they can get a soldiers perspective of what it’s like to be in the army.

The center replaced five conventional recruiting stations, and as a result helped boost, by a small margin, the number of recruits this past year. The center is not without its opponents. Protests are common outside the facility, with groups saying it is deceptive and not giving a realistic view of military life.