Pokemon GO Helped Overseas Military Members to Socialize
While serving at a base in Afghanistan, many U.S. soldiers use Pokemon GO as a way to socialize and destress from the conflict.
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One of the best aspects of Pokemon GO has always been the in-person interactions fans have when meeting other like-minded trainers out in the world. And while that social aspect has been missing from the game for a while, things are slowly coming back together as more in-person Pokemon GO events are taking place worldwide.
Surprisingly enough, the love for Pokemon is even able to bring people together in times of great uncertainty, such as an active battlefield. According to a news publication site titled Stars and Stripes, which is a company that specializes in news relating to the U.S. military and its actions overseas, many troops in Afghanistan have spent hours playing Pokemon GO back in 2019 while they were on active duty.
These U.S. soldiers located in the Bagram Airfield, the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan, would drive out with civilians to different Pokemon GO gyms around the base and work together to catch Pokemon and claim territories. These soldiers stated that this was a great way to bring strangers closer together and offered a safe place away from the hardships of war.
Corey Olsen, a U.S. Army electrical technician, explained that he would never have thought that Pokemon GO would become as popular as it was in Bagram and that it just happened without any explanation and become a phenomenon. Then Olsen joined in on the fun and played with the other service members inside his shop after everyone was done with work. Another suspected reason that it became so popular with the soldiers was that this was seen as a great opportunity to catch other Pokemon that were not commonly available in other parts of the world.
Back at the peak of Pokemon GO popularity at the base, thousands of soldiers would compete to claim the different gyms and develop friendly competitive rivalries with other soldiers to keep control over their territories. Then as withdrawal from the Bagram base was quickly moved forward, many trainers have left their weaker Pokemon behind at the gym with almost zero competition. Currently, there are low-level Pokemon guarding both the Warrior Chapel and a memorial site dedicated to a fallen service member at Bagram.
While the control over these gyms might be short-lived, if they haven’t already been claimed by the local population, it was great that these soldiers were able to enjoy this pleasant escape from their stressful job. And while some soldiers are uncertain about Afghanistan’s future after U.S. withdrawal, many are hopeful to one day return to the area and reclaim their rightful Pokemon Gyms.
Pokemon GO is available now on Android and iOS devices.
Source: Stars and Stripes
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