Responding quickly to the enemy's ever-changing tactics has proved the toughest test for the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now the army is transforming the complexities and dilemmas of combat into computer simulations - a no-nonsense version of the video games today's soldiers grew up playing.
Retired army Sergeant Mark Covey runs what is undoubtedly the most high-stakes video gaming centre in the world, and that's just the beginning of what the army has in mind.
With help from Hollywood, the army is making training as close to the real thing as possible. The idea is to train soldiers against the enemy's latest tactics before they ever get to the battlefield.
For example, would-be soldiers ride through a gauntlet of roadside bombs, the aim to spot them before they get you.
Grappling with the unpredictability of wars likely to break out in the next decade is the military's challenge. Their success or failure will determine where the US stands.
CBS / 3 News