Senior Airman Jacob Bass of the 791st Missile Security Forces Squadron/S3O on Minot AFB takes his Call to Duty to another level. He and his team won the Call of Duty (COD) Eastern Regional E-Sports Invitation (EREI) tournament at Keesler AFB, Mississippi on May 3-4, 2024.
For Team Minot’s E-sports Team, a team of four Airmen from different bases, U.S. Air Force Captain Nicholas Gutierrez, Senior Airman Jacob Bass, Senior Airman Angel Garcia, and Airman 1st Class Luke Townsend competed in the EREI tournament and qualified for the Continental United States (CONUS) tournament. In the EREI tournament, the best Air Force bases in the Continental United States competed against each other in a game called Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, aka MW2. SrA. Bass received the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.
E-sports are multiplayer video games played competitively for spectators, typically by professional gamers. SrA. Bass became involved in e-sports when he attended high school because a friend had always told him that he was exceptional and that he could play at a higher competitive level. Since he has been playing for years and dreamed of higher-level play, winning the MVP for the EREI was a huge, meaningful accomplishment for SrA Bass.
During the EREI, SrA. Bass, or Bruce (his in-game name and his name in the AFG), said that when he would “pop off,” he could hear the spectators’ reactions. “Popping off” means going on a big kill streak or a quick multi-kill, which is a game changing play. The spectators always get him stoked. In many physical sports, athletes feed off the crowd’s excitement. It’s no different for e-sports athletes. The 2024 EREI attracted over 1200 attendees, who witnessed eight Air Force Gaming teams compete.
SrA. Bass’s, or Bruce’s, stats were as follows: 1.39 Overall K/D, 1.40 Hardpoint K/D, 1.09 SND K/D, and 1.51 CONTROL K/D. The kill record in any match was 47, and the team’s overall record was 21-10.
What SrA. Bass likes most about playing e-sports is “No matter how old I get, I always stay super competitive and wanna win so bad, making me love playing and competing at a high level.” His favorite e-sport is Competitive Search and Destroy within the Call of Duty game because, to him, it’s like a chess game. Every move you make on the map is very important, along with the in-game IQ. The team plays together, and ultimately, teamwork is what it takes to win, but sometimes there must be individual moves to push the team to victory.
SrA. Bass doesn’t just play video games; he enjoys physical sports too. He likes to play softball for the 791 MSFS but says that he bonds more with his teammates in e-sports. He explained saying, “I would say truthfully that I have bonded with others more through e-sports compared to a regular sport. Not everyone is going to feel that way, but I have always been able to play at a high level of sports year-round vs. seasonally with regular sports. The camaraderie is always higher through e-sports.” The Call of Duty Eastern Regional E-Sports Invitation has existed for several years, and SrA. Bass says that participation continues to grow.
The Team Minot’s E-sports team did not win the CONUS tournament but placed 2nd in the Best Air Force Bases. So, congratulations to SrA. Bass and Team Minot’s E-Sports Team for their accomplishments in the EREI and the CONUS tournament!
