File this under “Dubious Ideas”

I know the Army is hard-up for recruits and all, but this proposal doesn't seem like such a great idea. Today's Washington Post reports that an Orlando real estate developer sent an unsolicited proposal to the military to build a 125-acre amusement park in northern Virginia, which would be adjacent to an Army museum scheduled ...

I know the Army is hard-up for recruits and all, but this proposal doesn't seem like such a great idea. Today's Washington Post reports that an Orlando real estate developer sent an unsolicited proposal to the military to build a 125-acre amusement park in northern Virginia, which would be adjacent to an Army museum scheduled to open in 2013. The Army is actually considering the offer, saying that it would offset the $300 million cost of the museum. According to the proposal:

I know the Army is hard-up for recruits and all, but this proposal doesn't seem like such a great idea. Today's Washington Post reports that an Orlando real estate developer sent an unsolicited proposal to the military to build a 125-acre amusement park in northern Virginia, which would be adjacent to an Army museum scheduled to open in 2013. The Army is actually considering the offer, saying that it would offset the $300 million cost of the museum. According to the proposal:

You can command the latest M-1 tank, feel the rush of a paratrooper freefall, fly a Cobra Gunship or defend your B-17 as a waist gunner."

Um, someone please explain to me who, other than the developer, benefits from such a theme park? It seems to me that the Army would suffer from a public backlash (remember the Disney proposal to build a theme park in Manassas?). And while it's not necessarily a bad idea to let kids perform military simulations, doing it in a theme park setting would trivialize what the Pentagon does and disrespect what the Army represents. Call me a killjoy, but it just doesn't seem like family fun.

Christine Y. Chen is a senior editor at Foreign Policy.

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