Command The Stack
Read the story- Brand
- US Air Force
- Year
- 2021
- Objective
- Lead Gen & Recruiting
- Industry
- Other
- Mechanic
- Simulation & Strategy
- Platform
- AR & VR
Objective
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when Air Force recruiters could no longer meet prospects face to face, the US Air Force Recruiting Service and agency GSD&M needed a way to engage the next generation of candidates remotely. The aim was to spark interest in aviation, translate what airmen and ground specialists in the Air Force, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve actually do into something tangible, and show that the branch is fluent in cutting-edge tech like AR.
Solution
Point a phone or tablet at the floor and a holographic command table snaps into place, letting the player scale it, walk around it, and size up the battlefield from any angle. Control is split across three altitude "stacks": the top layer runs recon and strategy, the middle handles the air fight, and the bottom directs ground support, troop drops, and aid delivery. Playing solo, one person juggles all three stacks at once; in co-op, up to three players each take a single stack and have to coordinate in real time or the mission stalls. Each mission runs about 10-15 minutes, clearing one unlocks new objectives and aircraft, and an in-app "Air Base" section lets players browse the real planes and the roles behind them between missions.
Results
The app has been downloaded more than 8,000 times since launch, and its companion website has logged more than 78,000 sessions from over 50,000 unique visitors.
- 1
Players download the free app from the App Store or Google Play, or start from the commandthestack.com / Air Force Aircade site. Creating an account lets them save progress, track rank, and appear on a shared leaderboard.
- 2
The phone or tablet camera turns the player's room into an augmented-reality window: aiming it at the floor or a table reveals a holographic command table, "The Stack," which the player positions and scales to fit the space. Players physically walk around and lean toward the table to view the battlefield from different angles, with the in-game camera tracking their movement.
- 3
A tutorial mission comes first; completing it unlocks the rest of the campaign.
- 4
From a mission menu, players choose from a single-player campaign of nine story missions spread across five locations built on real topographic data.
- 5
Each mission's battlespace is split into three height-based tiers that the player switches between and commands together: the Top Stack for RTS-style reconnaissance, target-spotting, radar support, and high-altitude strikes; the Middle Stack for dogfighting in a fighter jet to win air superiority; and the Bottom Stack for close air support, troop drops, and delivering aid to the ground.
- 6
Within a mission, players work through a chain of objectives — gathering intel, neutralizing threats, delivering aid — to complete the mission goal, in sessions that run about 10 to 15 minutes.
- 7
Performance is scored beyond simple victory: points are awarded for following procedure, choosing the right aircraft for the task, hitting objectives accurately, and coordinating across the three stacks.
- 8
Completing missions unlocks new objectives and new aircraft, starting with nine authentically modeled real Air Force planes (F-35, A-10, MQ-9, CV-22, F-16, C-17, B-52, E-3, KC-10). Players learn each aircraft's handling and capabilities to figure out which one suits which task, can consult the "Air Base" in-game encyclopedia on aircraft and Air Force personnel, and compare their scores, achievements, and flight hours on a real-time daily leaderboard.
- 9
After the tutorial, an online co-op mode let up to three players each take one stack in a mission, via matchmaking or a private game with friends, requiring coordination between layers to succeed. A later update added the "Northern Dawn" mission, and version 2.0.0 removed multiplayer, leaving only the solo campaign.
