In August, the military plans to open its first Army Experience Center, a combination recruiting center/video arcade/retail store to promote the service, according to a report in the New York Post.

The paper wrote that the city’s Times Square is a likely location, and that the 14,500-square-foot center will be a multimedia extravaganza with flight simulators and life-size soldier video games.

While the Army will sell merchandise at the venue, the focus is on building "brand experiences" that give potential recruits a taste of military service, the Post reported.

Last summer, the Army appointed its first official chief marketing officer, Edward Walters, a 38-year-old West Point grad armed with an MBA and a marketing stint at Kraft Foods, according to the paper.

Walters told the Post that the Army store is a prototype for a new kind of recruitment office and is the latest example of the military’s increasing use of marketing tools to attract the next generation of soldiers.

"We’re moving away from normal recruiting offices and desks to places where men and women can experience military service," he said.

The Army already holds marketing events around the country to entice potential recruits, the paper noted. Mobile Army Strong Zones offer rock-climbing walls and weapons demonstrations. It also has started to use Facebook and MySpace, as well as online gaming and cell phone messages.