EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska -- When Airmen arrive at a new base, finding a community can help the adjustment period go smoothly. Nightwatch, the gaming community on Eielson Air Force Base, helps provide familiarity to Airmen.
“Night Watch is an organization for like-minded people to get together and game,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Tyler Richardson, 354th Maintenance Group Maintenance Management Analysis section chief. “It consists of casual gaming as well as competitive gaming and gives Airmen the opportunity to get together to play games and connect.”
Nightwatch allows Airmen to participate in board games or online gaming whether they are novice gamers or more experienced.
“By bringing gaming to Eielson, we are affording an additional opportunity for people to have release and get together,” said Richardson. “Gaming can be inherently individualistic but Night Watch and gaming at Eielson allows both the opportunity to connect virtually and physically.”
The connections made in the community have led to a unique opportunity this year. Airmen, split across three teams, are competing in an Alaska gaming tournament to see where they stand among other teams.
“The tournament that the Airmen are playing in is called the MTA Gaming Tournament,” said U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Daniel Pankratz, 354th Contracting Squadron Construction Flight officer-in-charge. “MTA is an internet service provider that started this last year and we’ve just started participating in the tournament this year.”
The three teams participated in three different games: League of Legends, Rocket League, and Apex. The tournament ran from October to November with all three teams making it to the championship weekend. Both the League of Legends team and the Rocket League team finished in the top 6, and the Apex team finished in 2nd place.
Visit the Nightwatch tab at Eielson’s 354th Force Support Squadron website for more information regarding Nightwatch and future events as well as a link to their Discord.