Photo By Senior Airman Tia Herring | U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Tristan Biese, 2nd Audiovisual Squadron training...... read more read more
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HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah -- Appleton, Wisconsin native, U. S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Tristan Biese participated in the Department of the Air Force Esports Invitational 2023 in San Antonio, Texas, May 27-28.
Biese, a video production specialist with the 2d Audiovisual Squadron located at Hill Air Force Base, was one of 12 gamers representing the DAF and one of six on his team in a professional tournament featuring the video game, Overwatch 2. During the competition, service members from across different branches of the Department of Defense were able to showcase their skills and passion for gaming as military members.
“For me, video games have always given me the opportunity to prove myself and my team,” said Biese. “This tournament didn’t just allow me to show what we’ve got, but to represent the Air Force. We were excited.”
Growing up in the community of Appleton, Biese first found his passion for gaming as a child.
“When I pick up a controller, I get into my zone,” said Biese. “I don’t think about anything else, just the game. I am addicted to winning.”
At the age of 18, Biese joined the Air Force. He has since become a skilled photographer and videographer for the 2d AVS, which specializes in storytelling through productions and live broadcasts by sharing stories of global DAF and DoD missions. Although he has been serving the country for multiple years, it hasn’t stopped him from continuing his passion of competitive gaming.
“Gaming is a common shared interest between people, including service members,” said Biese. “I found people in my service branch who not only shared my interest in video games, but also my competitiveness.”
Surprised to see a banner on the Air Force website promoting the tournament, Biese decided to apply for the Esports team. After being accepted, he put in weeks of practice.
“We went down to San Antonio with one goal in mind; to win,” said Biese. “We wanted to take this opportunity to compete as a team on the big stage.”
Since its creation, the Air Force Gaming League has aimed to provide opportunities for Airmen and service members such as Biese.
“The purpose of this invitational is to foster camaraderie and friendly competition between service branches while also promoting resiliency and social connection,” said Steve Sarandos, Chief, DAF Esports. “It is a great event to build esprit de corps.”
Biese and his team placed second out of five participating teams, losing to the Army in the final competition. Although not the result that he hoped for, he demonstrated his true skill-set and love for gaming which he never lost, dating back to his early days in Appleton.
“I am just happy to be able to participate in something like this,” said Biese. "This tournament has been a great opportunity to bring people from all over the world together to compete and share a love of video games. I might not become a professional video game player, but at least I got to compete with the best of the best in the U.S. military.”
| Date Taken: | 05.30.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 05.30.2023 23:07 |
| Story ID: | 445818 |
| Location: | UTAH, US |
| Web Views: | 96 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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