Space Force, the total real branch of the U.S. Armed Forces that protects our country from “space threats,” has been putting American citizens’ tax dollars to work by… playing Call of Duty?
That’s right, the U.S. Space Force is the reigning champion of the Call of Duty Endowment’s esports league, and they’ll be defending the title on Dec. 16 in Raleigh, North Carolina. But before the tournament kicked off, Space Force wanted to flex on its competitors by launching their trophy into space.
Earlier this week, the coveted trophy was launched into orbit by C.O.D.E. and the UK-based Sent Into Space, so the Space Force team could encourage its competition to “come and get it” via permanent marker scribbled on the award.
C.O.D.E. is a nonprofit helping unemployed veterans get back on their feet and into a variety of careers. Each year, the endowment hosts an annual video game tournament called the Call of Duty Endowment Bowl. The C.O.D.E. Bowl invites all six branches of the U.S. Armed Forces and three branches of the U.K. military to compete in the esports tournament. All proceeds from the competition go towards C.O.D.E.’s mission of getting veterans into high-quality careers, while the winning team gets a trophy and bragging rights.
“This year, the C.O.D.E. Bowl will take Raleigh, North Carolina by storm with a thrilling Warzone 2.0 battle to see if anyone can pry the trophy away from Space Force,” said Dan Goldenberg, the executive director of C.O.D.E. “The event will be incredibly fun to watch, but we never lose sight of our important mission of placing the 61% of veterans who identify as being either unemployed or underemployed into meaningful careers.”
