
Osseo Post 172 teaming with Regiment Gaming June 10 for 2v2 Call of Duty LAN.
During what he called a “rough” stretch in his life, U.S. Army veteran Ian Hollifield was connected with Regiment Gaming, then just a fledgling group but now the nation’s largest military and veteran gaming community.
Hollifield, a member of Osseo-Maple Grove American Legion Post 172 in Osseo, Minn., would go onto join Regiment, though not as an active gamer. “I started paying more and more attention to Regiment,” he said, “not really involved in the community online so much, but just kind of looking at their news articles.”
Then Hollifield reached out to Regiment founder and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Chris Earl, who started Regiment in 2020 to assist both himself and fellow veterans in their transition from the military to their civilian lives.
“I just asked him, ‘Do you guys ever go to Legion posts and hold post tournaments?’” Hollifield said. “I’m relatively new to The American Legion. Internally, in my head, I’m like, ‘What can I do to potentially drive a younger force, younger people to our Legion.’ I go into this Regiment group and go into a chatroom where there’s a bunch of kids, just (BSing) and being together as veterans, I thought that might be a good way.
“So, I just asked (Earl), and he said, ‘Funny you say that, because we’re going to the national convention.’”
For three days during the 2022 American Legion National Convention, Regiment members had gaming stations set up in the Wisconsin Center, allowing them to interact with Legionnaires, who in turned learned more about gaming. Meanwhile, Hollifield had the answer he needed, and he took his idea to Post 172’s executive board, of which he is a member.
With an OK from the board, Hollifield helped organize what will be the first American Legion post-hosted Regiment Gaming tournament. On June 10, the post will host a $5,000 2v2 Call of Duty Charity LAN (Local Area Network) tournament. The $5,000 prize pool was provided by Post 172 and will be donated to Stack Up, which has worked with The American Legion to provide gaming equipment and tournaments to active-duty military personnel.
“I think it’s an amazing opportunity to bring in a younger demographic of veterans, specifically post-9/11 veterans,” said Earl, a member of the American Legion Department of California. “Everyone plays video games at this point. Between the ages of 18 and probably like 28, they all have something in common. And nine out of 10 times they’re a gamer.”
Post 172 Second Vice Commander James Hultgren, who will take over as post commander this summer, said he’s always willing to try something to benefit the post. A member of the Department of Minnesota’s Media & Communications Committee, he said this tournament has potential to do exactly what Hollifield is hoping it can.
“It’s something we’ve never done. You can do all your main types of fundraising, steak fries and things like that,” said Hultgren, an Operation Iraqi Freedom U.S. Army veteran. “But (gamers) are this generation of vets. When I was in Korea Xbox came out, and so (the game) Halo was pretty big. We sit around the day room and play the games. And as it became more popular and more available for everybody to afford as we moved up in rank, then we could buy the next game. It was our after-hours, hanging out with everybody. Gaming is a part of our lives.
“It’s a way that’s going to bring some more people together that might not (come to the post). And being at the post, it’s another event that’s here and they can see the rest of the (post). Where people can come to play a game, but they realize, ‘Wow, you have this facility.’ Our marketing and fliers, right when you walk into the building, tell you everything you need to know about this post. The way it’s set up you can learn so much about the post in five minutes.”
The tournament is open to active-duty military, veterans and their dependents. Team and spectator passes for the tournament are free and can be found here.
There’s no deadline to sign up for the tournament, and Earl expects to see some gamers come to the post the day of the tournament to sign up. “We’ll have time (June 10) to finalize teams,” he said. “It’s pretty easy, just because it’s a (two-player vs. two-player tournament), rather than a 4v4. If it was a 4v4 we’d operate this a little differently, with a cut-off (date).”
For Hollifeld, 42, being able to connect the post with Regiment could have a ripple effect. “I think one of the ways we can bring in younger people is by doing things younger people want to do,” he said. “If it all pans out it’s great – not just for our post, but for The American Legion as a whole. It could potentially change some things.”
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