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United States Air Force Recruiting Service Launches New Mobile Tour

~Air Force Performance Lab” Marks 2015’s New Flagship Tour~

Austin, TX—May 22, 2015—The Air Force Recruiting Service (AFRS) will launch an innovative mobile tour beginning Memorial Day weekend in Columbia, Missouri, to continue nationwide throughout 2015.

The flagship experiential tour, “Air Force Performance Lab,” will feature a futuristic experience highlighting pertinent career fields within the Air Force to attract tech-minded youth with a heightened interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). The tour and campaign elements were developed and created by the Air Force’s advertising agency of record GSD&M, in collaboration with vendor partners Next Marketing, FISH Technologies, Craftsmen Industries and Reel FX.

The new Performance Lab is the most personalized mobile tour experience ever produced by AFRS. The tour contains the largest mixed use of technology in an Air Force recruiting experience and is one of the first mobile tour experiences to utilize Kinect 2 technology along with Oculus Rift VR. Each activity on the tour is designed to test a specific skill such as spatial and mechanical, dexterity, situational awareness, logic and reasoning and physical strength. The individual’s experience is tracked through a digital data capture system that uses RFID technology to collect, consolidate and compute participant’s scores into a personalized assessment while simultaneously providing valuable lead capture data.

“This tour stands out from our previous initiatives in that it engages a specific group of tech-savvy young adults who will be immersed in everything from a flight simulator to Special Operations,” said Maj. Jacob Chisolm, Chief, Air Force National Events Branch. “This is also the ideal opportunity for those aspiring to join our team to identify the best career options that suit their skills and areas of expertise.”

Using cutting-edge technology, each challenge is designed to highlight various skills and interests that correlate to Air Force careers. Throughout the experience, participants will be exposed to a number of career fields while competing against fellow visitors and even real Airmen.

The Air Force Performance Lab includes:

  • Oculus Rift Flight Simulator
  • Kinect 2 Pull-Up Bar Challenge
  • 42″ vertical touchscreen challenge games that test spatial/mechanical, logic/reasoning, and situational awareness skills
  • Exploratory career room featuring more than 30 Air Force careers
  • On-site leaderboard displaying real-time results of tour participants
  • F-16 Thunderbird display

The current Air Force’s mobile asset fleet includes:

  • Rapid Strike: global vigilance, reach + power full-motion simulator ride experience that gives visitors first-person POV of a real Air Force mission (e.g., F-22 flight, C-17 cargo drop, Combat Controller group surveillance, satellite communication, Reaper missile strike)
  • NASCAR Air Force Race Day Experience including engaging trivia game and cutaway show car showcasing how USAF and NASCAR are both fueled by STEM
  • Air Force X-1 Supercar providing visitors with glimpse of the Air Force’s modern airpower
  • Air Force Vapor Special Ops Supercar is a 38′ trailer filled with interactive touchscreens showing parallels between technology in the car and technology used by mechanics and Special Ops.

“After completing the experience, participants will walk away feeling inspired, empowered and equipped with a personal assessment of their unique strengths and problem-solving abilities,” said GSD&M Chief Creative Officer Jay Russell. “Most importantly, attendees will have an in-depth understanding of the variety of jobs available within the Air Force—and how their skills correlate to such opportunities.”

About the United States Air Force
The mission of the United States Air Force is to fly, fight and win in air, space and cyberspace. For 2015, the Air Force Recruiting Service is hiring over 21,000 new Airmen. An emphasis is on recruiting people with no prior military service into one of about 140 enlisted career opportunities. The Air Force recruits to retain, so we recruit the brightest candidates possible, then provide them with tough, highly technical training that gives them the right skills to sustain the combat capability of America’s Air Force. For more information about Air Force benefits and opportunities, go to www.airforce.com. 

About GSD&M
GSD&M is an advertising agency headquartered in Austin and focused on ideas that make a difference. With a restless culture and purpose as a guiding force, GSD&M builds brands with an integrated creative and media approach. For more information, go to GSDM.com.

Contact:                                                                    

Christa D’Andrea                                 Melanie Mahaffey

Air Force Recruiting Service               GSD&M

christa.dandrea.3@nullus.af.mil               melanie.mahaffey@nullgsdm.com

(210) 565-4687                                   (512) 242-4594

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