Courtesy Photo | Sgt. Frank Doone of the Pennsylvania National Guard recently made the U.S. Army...... read more read more
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FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. – A Pennsylvania National Guard Soldier recently made the U.S. Army’s eSports Team after a worldwide tryout.
Sgt. Frank Doone, a utilities equipment repairer with the 3622nd Support Maintenance Company at Fort Indiantown Gap, was one of six Soldiers selected from throughout the Army to be on the Army eSports program’s World of Warcraft team.
“As a National Guard member, it’s a different opportunity not only to represent the Guard but the Army at the highest level – nationally and internationally since a lot of these tournaments get streamed around the world,” he said. “To me, it’s really neat and really fun. I get to do something that most people never heard of.”
Doone, 23, has been in National Guard for about 6 years and has been playing World of Warcraft for about 15 years. He was selected for the team after replying to an all-Army email and taking part in a tryout period that last about three months.
“There was a small interview that went with that,” he said. “After competing against a dozen or so players, I was able beat the other players and I got a spot onto the team of six players.”
The other players that are on the team are stationed around the world, including North Carolina and Alaska, Doone said.
Since making the team, Doone has compete in one tournament called Key Stone Masters. He and his teammates placed ninth out of over 30 teams, he said. Some of the teams had well-known sponsors in the video game industry, he said.
“These are some of the best players in the entire the world that play video games,” he said. “We did very well. We beat our expectations. We didn’t make the top four, but we did beat some of the better teams.”
Normally, the team would compete in-person at tournaments, but with COVID-19 they are being played online. At some point, they will likely go back to in-person competitions.
Doone is a native of Shamokin, Pa. He currently attends Bloomsburg University where he’s studying criminal justice.
When he joined the National Guard six years ago, Doone never imagined he would be doing anything like this.
“I never knew this existed until I got that email,” he said. “I’m glad I found out about it and I’m part of it.”
Doone said he plans to continue playing video games and competing in eSports for the foreseeable future and would like to become a professional gamer one day.
“It’s a billion dollar industry,” he said. “I’d love to be part of it one day.”
The Army eSports program falls under U.S. Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and represents the Army in competitions across the country. Similar to the Golden Knights and the Army Marksmanship Unit, the team is designed to create awareness about the Army and the opportunities it provides.
More than 6,500 Soldiers applied to be part of the eSports program after it launched in September 2018.
In addition to World of Warcraft, the Army also has teams for other popular games, such as Call of Duty and Fortnight. The teams even have special uniforms that are regulated by Recruiting Command.
“I want to keep doing this as long as I’m in the Army,” Doone said. “I grew up with video games. Being in college, it’s a good stress reliever, but doing it for a purpose makes it so much better.”
| Date Taken: | 10.23.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 10.23.2020 13:54 |
| Story ID: | 381619 |
| Location: | FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Hometown: | SHAMOKIN, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Web Views: | 451 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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