US Army offers 4-day pass to play GTA VI — but there's a catch

A US Army unit in Georgia is reportedly offering active duty service members a four-day pass to play the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI video game, but the personnel are required to re-enlist themselves for at least two more years of service, CBS News reported. The report cited a memothat first appeared on US Army WTF! Moments. The memo states that any soldier who signs a reenlistment contract between Aug 1 and Nov 14 will be authorised for a special four-day pass designated to coincide with "the highly anticipated release of the video game Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA 6)." .In exchange for the four-day playing pass, active duty soldiers would reenlist for a minimum of two years and up to six years, it added. The offer was proposed exclusively for one battalion in Georgia. The report also confirmed the authenticity of the memo stating that Task & Purpose and Military dot com were the first to authenticate it.

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According to reports, twenty soldiers at Fort Stewart in Georgia in the Army's 9th Brigade Engineering Battalion, part of the 3rd Infantry Division, have already agreed to the incentive, and approximately 130 soldiers are currently eligible for the offer. It has been over a decade since the last version of the game, GTA V, was published in 2013 by Rockstar Games, and the announcement of the the new publication has created intense anticipation for the gamers.

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US Army offers various incentives for enlistment

The army has used various enlistment bonuses and incentives, including college tuition assistance, choice of duty station assignments, and access to special training programs where soldiers learn to jump from airplanes, to encourage soldiers to enlist or re-enlist. "The idea was to have a unique incentives program that connects to what Soldiers are interested in," Lt.-Col. Angel Tomko, a spokesperson for the 3rd Infantry Division, said in a statement. “The command team, in conjunction with the career counselor, wanted to get soldiers excited to reenlist,” he added.