U.S. Army wants to pay you to play video games competitively

Video games and CrossFit are two new ways the United States Army plans to recruit more young people.

The effort comes after the Army had trouble this year enlisting enough soldiers.

[LINK: About U.S. Army eSports]

The Army is creating what it calls an eSports team, where soldiers will get paid to play video games competitively.

[LINK: U.S. Army eSports Facebook page]

The team already has a Twitter page, and Army recruiters recently gave details in a video posted to Facebook.

[LINK: Interested in U.S. Army eSports]

The Army is facing a manpower problem.

This year, in a strong economy with low unemployment, the Army missed recruiting targets for the first time since 2005.

The Pentagon is now increasing 2019 targets, hoping to bring in 73,000 recruits next year.

For more than a decade, the Army has had its own first-person shooter game, "America's Army," designed to help with recruiting.

The Pentagon is now accepting applications for its new video game team.

The website to apply is now up and running. The Army is looking for experts in everything from "Madden" to "Fortnite."

The Pentagon told military newspaper Stars and Stripes that the team would be based at Fort Knox.

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