U.S. Army Esports
U.S. Army Esports is an esports team sponsored by the United States Army. The team, which consists of active duty and reserve personnel, was announced in November 2018 as a public outreach initiative operating within the Fort Knox, Kentucky-based Army Marketing and Engagement Team. Games in which the team announced it would compete include Call of Duty, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Fortnite, League of Legends, Overwatch and Magic: The Gathering. In 2020, U.S. military esports activities garnered widespread media attention after a successful legal battle led by the ACLU forced them to lift the bans on the people they had removed for discussing war crimes committed by U.S. armed forces. History The U.S. Army Esports team was founded in November 2018. After the Army missed its recruiting goal for the first time in 13 years, the team was founded in an effort to modernize outreach efforts. In 2022, the team finished second in the inaugural Armed Forces Sports Championship in Halo Infinite that was played against the other U.S. service branches. First Amendment concerns The official U.S. Army Esports Discord server and Twitch became the target of activists who began to post comments and memes referencing war crimes committed by the