{"id":155270,"date":"2024-04-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=155270"},"modified":"2024-04-23T09:15:46","modified_gmt":"2024-04-23T09:15:46","slug":"usag-benelux-spotlight-staff-sgt-nicholas-cravens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=155270","title":{"rendered":"USAG Benelux Spotlight: Staff Sgt. Nicholas Cravens"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Official photograph of Staff Sgt. Nicholas Cravens for the U.S. Army Battle Royale eSports final in Frisco, Texas Dec. 2023. (Courtesy photo)
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[Editor\u2019s Note: In this series, we are shining a light on our workforce in and around the Benelux. This Spotlight <\/em>is on Staff Sgt. Nicholas Cravens, who has found a way to merge his love of video games with his job in the U.S. Army.]<\/p>\n

CHIEVRES, Belgium \u2013 Late last year, Cravens found himself in Frisco, Texas competing with 12 finalists in the Battle Royale eSports final for the U.S. Army.<\/p>\n

ESports, short for electronic sports, conducts video game competitions for gamers around the world. Competitions can be played on a wide range of video games from sports to first person shooter games and everything in between.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest way I can describe eSports is a bunch of nerds got their dream and created a multimillion-dollar industry and a way to actually compete internationally,\u201d said Staff Sgt. Nicholas Cravens, AFNorth Battalion trips coordinator for the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One of 1,500 initial competitors, Cravens advanced in the competition and earned a spot in the finale.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only were you competing with people from your region, you were also globally competing for the top leader board,\u201d said Cravens. \u201cThe higher placement you got, the more points you got and that totaled into your overall score for your global placement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cravens competed for prequalifiers in the Benelux before flying to Texas to compete in the finale. All 12 finalists earned a pre-qualifying prize pack filled with accessories adding up to $2,500.<\/p>\n

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\n Soldier Showdown setup for the Battle Royale eSports final, in Frisco, Texas Dec. 2023. (Courtesy photo)
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\u201cIt was all the accessories you need if you want to start your own stream at home, other than the computer itself,\u201d said Cravens.<\/p>\n

The final tournament was designed as a triathlon of gaming with individual workstations setup for each participant. The 12 competitors played Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, and then Apex Legends.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just played one game after another, of each game,\u201d said Cravens.<\/p>\n

Cravens gained more points in the first game, Fortnite; however, his competitor had more success in the middle game and ended up advancing in the competition due to points.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was nerves that got the best of me,\u201d said Cravens. \u201cBeing there, we were out of our environment; the first-time competing was very new. I think it threw us off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Cravens wasn\u2019t one of the top three finalists to win a new computer and gaming chair, he still enjoyed the competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting to experience the life of a gamer\u2014a competitive gamer\u2014that was pretty cool,\u201d said Cravens.<\/p>\n

This Spotlight <\/em>series will continue to tell the stories of our workforce in and around the Benelux. We are the Army\u2019s home – we are IMCOM.<\/p>\n

Additional Resources<\/h5>\n

Hosted by Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation (FMWR), Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers (BOSS), as well as gaming giant Complexity this annual tournament aims to retain Soldiers in the U.S. Army.<\/p>\n

Learn more about the U.S. Army\u2019s eSports<\/a> Program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Official photograph of Staff Sgt. Nicholas Cravens for the U.S. Army Battle Royale eSports final in Frisco, Texas Dec. 2023. (Courtesy photo) (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL [Editor\u2019s Note: In this series, we are shining a light on our workforce in and around the Benelux. This Spotlight is on Staff Sgt. Nicholas Cravens, who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155272,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-155270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=155270"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":155275,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155270\/revisions\/155275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/155272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=155270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=155270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=155270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}