American Legion Gaming hits American Legion National Convention in Tampa.
The Exhibit Hall at the 106th American Legion National Convention in Tampa, Fla., in August sported a new feature: the American Legion Gaming Lounge, sponsored by Consumer Cellular. The setup included comfortable seating and consoles old and new, for everything from 1980s arcade games like Ms. Pac-Man to state-of-the-art rigs. Daily highlights included mini tournaments, playing alongside @MandatoryFunDay (aka Austin von Letkemann), and a scavenger hunt that ran the length of the show.
Organization and staffing for the booth were overseen by members of Ronald Reagan-Palisades Post 283 in Pacific Palisades, Calif. Post Adjutant Jared Morgan has been part for the last two years of the developing American Legion Gaming (ALG), which he joined “as my master’s in marketing capstone project at USC. That gave me the perfect real-world laboratory to build something that had never existed inside The American Legion: a gaming-first initiative with a modern digital backbone. With tremendous support from Post 283, I not only had seed funding, but also a mandate to experiment. As the senior staffer, I’ve been given the runway and resources to build ALG into what it is today: a national-scale initiative in the making.”
Morgan spoke with The American Legion on how the booth was received and what comes next.
The American Legion: How long did the booth take to pull together?
Jared Morgan: The booth came together with some great last-minute planning. We weren't sure about many of the details very far ahead of time, and things seemed to change up until showtime. But if the Marine Corps taught me one thing, it's that you have to adapt and overcome. Our volunteers did a great job to showcase what American Legion Gaming is all about.
TAL: How long have you been gaming? What's your favorite kind, or individual game?
JM: I’ve been gaming since I was a kid, with the release of the NES. Though I like playing first-person infantry simulators like Squad, most of the time I spend these days gaming is with my kids on Minecraft and Roblox. I do love playing video games, but what I enjoy even more is the real-world strategy of the business of games.
TAL: What was the reception overall? Was one game especially popular?
JM: The reception has been incredible – veterans, families and younger servicemembers all see the value. What’s surprised some people is how popular retro games have become (again?) in recent years. The arcade machines we featured at the booth were consistently busy because of the nostalgia associated. I have to give a shoutout to Jason Bashline, who manages the RU Game retro game store in Tampa. I happened upon the store, and he answered. Turned out he is an Army vet and works at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa. Jason deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan, from 2010-2011. While I was looking to source materials for the booth, he offered to pick up an old CRT TV I bought off Facebook Marketplace. He also outfitted us with some converters from his store. Jason is the newest member of the ALG team, and we're lucky to have him.
Q: Did you find different generations playing with or helping each other?
JM: Absolutely. One of my favorite moments was seeing an older Legionnaire spend a long time on our Logitech racing simulator. When I stepped away for lunch, he was still there – but this time he was teaching a young girl how to drive it. I'm not sure if the two were related, but at least I was able to grab a few photos. We also had a mom pushing the pedals for her son who couldn’t reach them so he could still take part. Those moments show what gaming in the Legion is all about – different generations coming together, sharing the experience, helping each other and enjoying one another's company.
Q: Have you ever personally seen gaming's positive effects on players?
JM: Yes, and one of the best, most recent examples comes from Allen Edwards, a Legionnaire in Arkansas who volunteered to help us with the booth. After the convention he told us that before discovering ALG he felt like his time in the Legion was going stale, and he was even considering stepping back. But getting involved with American Legion Gaming completely reignited his sense of purpose. He’s now energized, raising donations, and even working to build a gaming kit in Arkansas so they can mirror what we’ve done on the West Coast. That’s the power of gaming – it gives people fresh purpose and a way to contribute that excites them again.
For their efforts, Morgan gave a “special shoutout to American Legion National Treasurer Shawn Long, National Adjutant Rodney Rolland and Marketing Director Mary Jo Dial, for believing in ALG and giving us a chance to make this initiative flourish. Also, big thanks to our volunteers: Andre Andrews, Freddy Hernandez, Bailey Steele, Michelle Heaton, Melissa Orduna, Paul Evans, Timothy Rowe, Wes Lewison and Alex Kruger Dobrota.”
American Legion Gaming – which has its own website – has big plans for the next couple of years, centering on what Morgan calls “three pillars – Comfort, Connection, Careers – that align with the Legion’s own mission and pillars. Comfort mirrors the Legion’s longstanding support programs like Operation Comfort Warriors and MWR. Connection focuses on combating veteran isolation and bridging generations of veterans and servicemembers through gaming communities. Careers creates pathways into education and jobs in the video game, cybersecurity and tech industries, directly in line with the Veterans Employment & Education (VE&E) mission.” More plans will come out of the Fall Meetings in October. For now, Morgan concludes, “I believe ALG represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to renew The American Legion’s relevance with younger veterans and servicemembers. We’re already proving the model, and the momentum is only growing.”
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