While most of America is going to be barbequing and lighting fireworks on July 4th to celebrate the anniversary of the country's independence, the Army is going to be celebrating a different anniversary: the sixth year of a video game.

Developed by the Army with the help of a contracting firm, America's Army was first unveiled to the public on Independence Day 2002.  Since then, the video game has become a global phenomenon expanding from 2.5 million users in its first year to 9.3 million today.

Developed at the Naval Postgraduate School with the assistance of entertainment and gaming industry stalwarts including Epic Games and the THX Division of Lucasfilm Ltd, the game cost taxpayers between $6-8 million to develop. But its success has been tremendous, as it became one of the five most popular video games played online.

In the United States, 25 percent of males between the ages of 13 and 30 have tried America's Army.  And surveys have shown that people who play the game are 33 percent more likely to include military service in their lives, which is quite an impact.

The PC action game gives players the opportunity to observe, and to an extent, experience modern life in the military without a Hollywood gloss covering up the facts. Players can explore individual and collective Army training, laws of war, Army values, lifesaving techniques, and even learn about employment in simulated missions in the "Global War on Terrorism."  

In the past five years, the Army has released dozens of new versions of the game, each one significantly increasing the number of missions and capabilities of the players.

In the fall of 2005, the Army released America's Army: Rise of a Soldier for the Xbox, and the game was in the top 25 for total game units distributed for the Xbox worldwide during the holiday season.  There are now also versions of the game for the Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, cell phones, and arcades.  

The game retails for anywhere between $40 and $60 for Xbox and is distributed free online for computers.  Army profits from the game fund subsequent versions of it.  And like like other video games, America's Army even has its own line of merchandise, spanning from mugs to action figures.

The overall purpose of the America's Army video game is to increase recruitment by engaging people in a unique and more realistic way. The Army hopes that people will like what they see in the game and choose to make the military a part of their future.  

"In 1999 I got the idea out of the fact that the Army failed in its recruiting mission for the second year in a row," said Col. Casey Wardynski, the creator and developer of America's Army.  "First impressions mean a lot, and getting in a young adult's decision space first is very important.  The Army really only started talking to people when they were 17, 18, 19 years old.  But they've been thinking about what they were going to do with their lives since they were 13 and already ruled us out."

Wardynski, who has a daughter in the Army and a son in the Coast Guard, saw what young people were interested in and decided to use it for the military's benefit.

"When most people leave home they're going to college or the labor force," Wardynski said.  "Before that, they're operating under someone else's rules.  The army is a lifestyle.  If you're going to get a life, that's a logical time to get a lifestyle.  The likelihood of joining the Army for a person is highest when they're between the ages of 17 and 24.  And those are the people who play games."

America's Army isn't just for playing anymore.  The Army now also uses versions of the video game for simulation applications to train soldiers.  It is used for teaching Force Protection, Live Fire Training, Convoy Survivability, as well as applications ranging from mission rehearsal to modeling advance weapons systems.

"This game is very popular with the public, but even more popular with the Army," Wardynski said.  "They're using it for education, virtual prototyping, and even Walter Reed is using it to help people recovering from combat, to do things like help people learn to drive a vehicle with an artificial appendage."

Players are taking more away from the game as well.  In 2003, the America's Army video game series began to incorporate medic training into the system.  In the average videogame, healing involves drinking a potion or waving a wand, and the character's HP, or Health Power, is automatically restored.  America's Army goes beyond potions and actually teaches lifesaving techniques to players.  

Since the incorporation of medic training, two people are on record for using first-aid training attained from the game to save lives.  One event occurred last November, when a North Carolina man witnessed an SUV flip and roll over on a highway and took care of the passengers until professionals arrived.

"Beyond recruiting we look to do public good," Wardynski said.  "The vast majority of people who play won't join the Army.  But if we can give them something like first-aid skills, it's all for the good."

In six years, a lot has changed for America's Army, but one thing that always stayed the same was Col. Wardynski.  For the nine years the game has been in development, Wardynski has been at the helm of it all.  But when he retires within the next three years, America's Army will go through yet another incarnation as someone new takes over the reigns.

"It's a great project and I really believe in the Army," Wardynski said. "I'm happy to have made a tool that shows what the Army is like, what life will be like for people who make informed decisions and join.  With America's Army, young adults don't need someone to tell them about the Army.  They can go explore for themselves."