Army unit offers ‘special 4 day pass’ to play Grand Theft Auto VI for reenlisted troops as part of ‘unique incentives program’

A U.S.

Army unit is offering its troops a special bonus if they reenlist soon: four extra days off timed around the November release of the video game Grand Theft Auto VI.

Commanders of the 9th Brigade Engineer Battalion based at Fort Stewart, Georgia, believe free time to indulge in the latest entry in the Grand Theft Auto series — in which players commit carjackings, battle police in shootouts and attempt audacious heists — will sway some soldiers to extend their military commitments.

The Nov.

19 release of Grand Theft Auto VI is expected to be one of the year’s biggest entertainment events.

Game publisher Take-Two Interactive hasn’t released sales figures for preorders, but CEO Strauss Zelnick recently called them “unprecedented and astonishing.” A career counselor with the Army engineer battalion hatched the idea with commanders to tie a retention perk to the game’s release, in part to remind soldiers of their approaching reenlistment dates, said Lt.

Col.

Angel Tomko, a Fort Stewart spokesperson.

“The idea was to have a unique incentives program that connects to what soldiers are interested in,” Tomko said Thursday in a statement to The Associated Press.

Battalion commanders wrote in a memo to soldiers that those who sign reenlistment contracts by Nov.

14 would receive “a special 4 day pass.” “This special pass is specifically designed to coincide with the highly anticipated release of the video game Grand Theft Auto VI,” battalion commander Lt.

Col.

Ryan Hodgson wrote.

Tomko confirmed the authenticity of the July 28 memo, which was photographed and posted online.