LAS VEGAS — A group of Army veterans is calling on other veterans to join their squad.
Dad Body Calvary is a nonprofit that collects and rebuilds gaming consoles and computers to donate to other veterans who may be feeling lost after separation from the military.
“When you get out of the military, and you’ve been in there for a long time, you have this identity that you know what your purpose is. You know what you’re worth, you know what you’re doing, and then when you transition into civilian life, you kind of lose that,” said Christopher King.
The team operates Call of Duty soldiers — they are real soldiers after having served in the 3rd Infantry Division. Together, they were deployed to Afghanistan in 2005. Two years ago, they reunited to form Dad Body Calvary.
“It’s the competition aspect of it, the social aspect of it, the teamwork aspect of it,” said Jeff Briner. “It all goes back to our military service and how we all worked together.”
All of the members are dads, and they can admit that they’ve packed on a few pounds since leaving the military, but besides their friendship, the one thing that has remained the same is their commitment and duty to serving others.
“We’ve found something that we’ve missed, not even the past two years but over the past several years,” said Brad Rollings. “We’re trying to offer that to as many other veterans as we can through our community.”
Gaming is a sort of therapy for the DBC. Many veterans struggle with transitioning back into civilian life as well as post-traumatic stress.
“There’s always constant thoughts, there are always memories, there’s always stuff that just out of nowhere hits you,” said Daniel Meservey. “There are triggers out there, and gaming kind of puts those triggers away, and I can just focus on hanging out with my brothers and sisters. Playing the game helps me shut off for a while.”
Dad Body Calvary is searching for veterans who might need an outlet or a network of veterans. DBC says its accepting nominations for veterans who would be interested in gaming. They are also raising money to purchase and restore computer equipment.
Rachel Moore at KTNV first reported this story.
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