A member of the U.S. Space Force was reportedly demoted earlier this month after skipping a portion of a training exercise to purchase a new PlayStation 5 console.
According to a written reprimand submitted to the popular Air Force amn/nco/snoc Facebook page, the Space Force Airman arrived 30 minutes late for his 11 a.m. physical training on December 1 because he was trying to find a PlayStation 5 at Target an hour before training began.
Posted by Air Force amn/nco/snco on Tuesday, December 15, 2020
“Yolo, PS5 > letters of discipline,” the unnamed airman told his superiors, according to the letter. “YOLO” is slang meaning “you only live once.”
The response earned the servicemember a lower rank, dropping from senior airman to airman 1st class.
Posted by Air Force amn/nco/snco on Tuesday, December 15, 2020
“You were late to work and insinuated to your supervisor that buying a PlayStation was more important to you than the disciplinary consequences of your actions,” the reprimand letter stated. “Your actions are an extreme deviation from the professionalism expected of you as a member of the armed forces.”
Whether the Space Force member was able to purchase the latest PlayStation console is unclear.
Task and Purpose said a Space Delta 8 spokesperson at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado was unable to confirm the letter’s authenticity due to a pending appeal process.
A spokesperson at the base did tell the news outlet that the formatting looks authentic.
Last week, Space Force gamers dominated in an online Call of Duty tournament against other military video game enthusiasts from the United States and United Kingdom.
Space Force earned the top spot in the Call of Duty Endowment’s second annual gaming competition. Dubbed the C.O.D.E. Bowl, the event raised funds through USAA, Ram Trucks and other sponsorships. The endowment estimates that roughly $1 million was raised through the tournament.
The Call of Duty Endowment has helped 77,000 veterans find jobs, Military Times reported. Roughly $499 is spent on each veteran to get them employed.
Veteran unemployment hit 6.3 percent in November this year, an increase from 5.9 percent in October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The rate is slightly lower than the national non-veteran unemployment rate of 6.6 percent.
The endowment keeps their cost-per-veteran low “by finding and the highest-performing nonprofits in this space to do this work,” Call of Duty Endowment Executive Director Dan Goldenberg told Military Times Thursday.
