It’s Game-On with SNHU’s Support of USO Fort Campbell’s Gaming Area

By USO Staff

In a continued effort to support military communities, the USO and Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) recently teamed up to provide service members at USO Fort Campbell with a place to relax, have fun and form bonds with the opening of the Center’s new gaming area, featuring in 10 PC gaming stations, as well as an Xbox and PlayStation 5 console.

To kick off this new chapter of their partnership, service members, SNHU volunteers and USO staff came together for a kickoff event on May 28, 2025. Along with electronic gaming, the event had old-fashioned Bingo games, which provided some memorable and exciting moments, and SNHU gave out prizes to attending service members, including goodie bags and specially designed Yeti tumblers. The event was the first of many coming to the USO Fort Campbell Center in 2025, where SNHU and the USO will continue to team up to host gaming activities for Fort Campbell service members and their families.

“As a retired soldier, this event brought back a flood of memories from my own time in uniform,” said John Murphy, a U.S. Army veteran and regional director of military partnerships and insights at SNHU.

“There’s something deeply special about being around service members again, hearing their stories, seeing their resilience firsthand and feeling that unshakable sense of community that defines military life,” John continued. “It reminded me of why we serve and why that service never really leaves us. That’s why I’m especially proud of SNHU’s support and sponsorship of the USO Fort Campbell Gaming Center. I know just how much that kind of support matters.”

Similar to other USO Gaming Centers, the gaming area at USO Fort Campbell will provide many of the same opportunities for building community, strengthening bonds and providing service members with a place to step away from their everyday military duties. And many service members can already attest to the benefits that gaming brings to them.

“Video gaming has helped me as a service member. I can go home and think about something other than the uniform,” said Spc. Nicholas Mitchell. “When I’m on a game, it kind of takes me away from the world and the problems we have in today’s society.”

Spc. Bernard Williams, a religious affairs specialist in the Army, said he is grateful for gaming, both for himself and for the many service members he meets in his job.

“Gaming helps me, my colleagues and a lot of the soldiers I talk to go to another world,” Bernard shared. “It calms us down, it takes us out of the real world, what’s going on in our lives, all the drama. It gives us a positive outlook on life. When we’re gaming, it’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, this is amazing.’ It’s a nice cool-off and a nice break from what we were going through.”

Before SNHU began supporting USO Gaming Centers, they had already been a longtime partner of the USO as an official educational partner of the organization, with their mission of creating pathways to higher education for service members and military spouses seeking to advance their careers. In fact, SNHU delivered its first educational programming for service members in 1941, the same year the USO was established.

As a primarily online university, SNHU’s virtual classes allow for flexibility. It’s a benefit to all SNHU students, but essential for service members with their rigorous and sometimes unpredictable schedules, and frequent moves to new duty stations. That flexibility benefits military spouses as well, who can still pursue higher education while facing frequent relocations and their increased family demands when their service member spouse deploys.

Many SNHU students who are active-duty service members at Fort Campbell or recently retired from service attended the launch and enjoyed the opportunity to connect in person with their fellow students and service members.

“SNHU helped me get my finance degree, which has helped me understand my finances better. With that, I’ve been able to acquire two houses, one for personal use and one for property management, so it’s helped me through the financial part of that,” shared Staff Sgt. Aaron Michael Schubert, an SNHU graduate who attended the event.

Even for service members who choose not to pursue further education, SNHU’s contribution of the gaming area offers a valuable space to anyone seeking relaxation and downtime. And SNHU will continue its support of the gaming area by volunteering at USO gaming events at USO Fort Campbell, hosting giveaways and collaborating with the USO Gaming Program to connect SNHU’s College Esports team with military families virtually.

“This is just the beginning, with additional events planned for the year ahead and the day-to-day enjoyment that the gaming area will spark,” said Ann Jarvis, USO Fort Campbell’s executive director. “Service members and their families participated in the USO Gaming Program more than 1 million times in 2024, and our Center staff feel excited to reach even more of them with SNHU’s support.”

As service members face the challenges of everyday military life, partnerships like this ensure they never have to face them alone. From educational benefits to making sure that they have a place to game and relax, the USO and SNHU continue to remind the people who serve that their well-being matters at every chapter of their service.