American Legion Gaming, known as ALG, uses video games as a platform to connect veterans, servicemembers, and their families while addressing isolation, mental health challenges, and career transition. It is a modern way to help veterans through gaming by using digital platforms that are easy to use and feel comfortable.
“ALG is more than just playing games,” says Jared Morgan, CEO of American Legion Gaming. “It’s connection, it’s purpose, and it’s wellness. Gaming is simply the medium that brings people together.”
The mission of American Legion Gaming centers on developing digital gaming and wellness initiatives that support veterans and families impacted by depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Through programs, events, and online resources, ALG builds camaraderie and peer-to-peer emotional support both online and in person.
Gaming plays a central role in how veterans connect within ALG, creating shared spaces where servicemembers and veterans can engage socially without barriers or formal requirements. Community interaction happens organically through casual and structured play, online discussion, and in-person events.
At the heart of ALG’s expansion is its free Discord-based community, which has grown to nearly 10,000 members and added roughly 3,000 users over the last six months. Morgan says gaming helps bridge the gap between military culture and civilian life, particularly for younger veterans.
“American Legion Gaming is a way to introduce younger veterans to The American Legion,” Morgan says. “It meets them where they already are.”
American Legion Gaming is structured around three pillars: comfort, connection, and careers. Comfort draws from the Legion’s historical support programs and the legacy of Morale, Welfare, and Recreation initiatives. Connection focuses on reducing veteran isolation through shared digital spaces. Careers centers on building pathways into education and employment in gaming, esports, cybersecurity, and the technology sector.
“Isolation is the enemy. Community is the cure.”
What started as a personal initiative for Morgan in 2023 to save The American Legion from declining membership has grown into a movement in which departments are beginning to recognize how gaming supports veterans and families and helps posts remain connected to their communities.
In California, American Legion Gaming has gained traction through local engagement and public-facing events. Ronald Reagan Palisades Post 283 has established a dedicated gaming space and used gaming activations at events such as Fleet Week Los Angeles to connect with servicemembers and veterans. During one Fleet Week, organizers reported 366 new members joined The American Legion.
Alaska, which has a history of supporting gaming initiatives within its American Legion departments for several years, is serving as an example for other states. Maryland is actively drafting its own American Legion Gaming resolution, while several additional departments are in discussion stages.
“If you play video games, join our discord and you are an American Legion member, you are an ALG member,” says Morgan.
0 Comments