How 'Starship Troopers' convinced Jim Mattis to make Marine infantry training more realistic

I guess you take your inspiration where you find it.

Read all of Heinlen's books as a teenager and Starship Troopers was a favorite. Not the first time science fiction has inspired military improvements. Did not have access to VR simulations while in the military but did use them as an agent later on to simulate operations including hostage situations, aircraft hijackings, hostile searches and so on. Very effective.

I read this book when I was 14 years old. Spent my career as a high school teacher and infantryman (National Guard). This was not entirely a coincidence. It’s a great book and on the reading list for officers at Fort Benning.