Rock and Roll!

Recently Activision announced that 100% of the proceeds from the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Soundtrack will benefit the Call of Duty Endowment.

The 20-track original score by renowned action composer Brian Tyler (Eagle Eye, Fast & Furious and The Expendables) is now available for digital download at iTunes, Amazon, other major digital media retailers for only $.99 per track.  Tyler’s epic score helps fuel the action in the game, and now it will also help support real-world soldiers in need.

“I am so excited to be the composer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3,” said Tyler. “I feel privileged to be able to contribute to the building of The Call of Duty Endowment. It is a true honor!”

Proceeds from Mr. Tyler’s Score will help the Call of Duty Endowment aid soldiers as they transition to civilian life, find work and establish careers.  Veterans continue to face persistent high-unemployment, and in these difficult times it is great to see someone like Mr. Tyler pitching in to help.

The Call of Duty Endowment Receives $250,000 Donation from Microsoft® to Help Veterans Find Work

 The Call of Duty Endowment proudly announces that, today, in conjunction with its Los Angeles store opening, Microsoft® is donating $250,000 to the Endowment and its founder, Bobby Kotick. As is the Endowment’s mission, this donation was given to help our veterans successfully transition back into civilian life by obtaining respectable employment upon their return home.

The $250,000 donation comes in the form of a monetary contribution and a software contribution, to be given by the Endowment to organizations who have proven their dedication to the pursuit of helping veterans find employment and/or valuable training to meet these goals. Some of the organizations include AMVETS, National Veterans Transition Services, Inc., Still Serving Veterans, Wounded Warrior Project, Hire Heroes USA, and Veterans Green Jobs.

Bobby Kotick responded to this generous donation, saying, “As business leaders, we have a responsibility to ensure that every veteran who leaves the military is honored with a good paying job in the 21st Century. I hope that more companies will step forward to help us in this fight, just as Microsoft® has done today.”

Although many organizations have stepped up to help overcome jobless rates for veterans, we hope that more organizations are able to do their part and truly make a difference in the lives of thousands of our veterans.

Call of Duty Endowment, Veterans to Benefit from Activision Premier Event

Activision just announced an amazing two-day event for fans called Call of Duty XP 2011, the first-ever celebration for the Call of Duty community.  Among other exciting opportunities, the event will offer action-experience and gaming competitions, a $1,000,000 Call of Duty tournament, and will host the world premiere of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer and Call of Duty Elite.

The best part, Activision will donate 100% of the ticket sales to the Call of Duty Endowment, so that we can continue to help veterans find work, establish careers, and assist other organizations that provide career training and job placement for veterans.   So, please buy a ticket, knowing all of your money goes to assist our military heroes.

Tickets for the event go on sale July 19^th and will be available for $150. The actual event will take place in Los Angeles on a 12-acre compound over Labor Day Weekend, September 2 and 3. Take a look at the One of Swords blog site to find out what they think is most interesting about the event.

In case you can’t be at the event but are just as excited about this ultimate Call of Duty experience, “fans from around the world can link up for a connected experience by watching a constant stream of high-production value videos that will be available through television and the web, as well as a constant stream of photos and status updates from the event via social media outlets, including Facebook and Twitter.”

We hope to see you all there this coming Labor Day weekend, as it is sure to be the highlight of the season!

USO-Metro’s First Annual Video Gaming Tournament

Our vets getting their game on!

In addition to trying to find jobs for veterans, we’re committed to honoring our service members and we want to help keep their spirits high when they return home from action.   With that in mind, we were thrilled to support a recent event driven by the USO of Metropolitan Washington, which was a unique way for service members to get together and show off their skills playing Activision’s Call of Duty®: Black Ops!

The event took place last Saturday, when the USO-Metro hosted their first ever video game tournament held at the Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall Community Center in Virginia.   The event featured dozens of veterans and current service members squaring off in multi-player teams competing against one another in Activision’s Call of Duty®: Black Ops. Teams representing military bases across the region, including: Andrews AFB, Fort Belvoir, JBAB, Quantico, Bethesda Naval participated in the tournament.   Lunch and snacks were provided for attendees as well as prizes for the winning teams and goody bags for everyone, which is where the Endowment was able to pitch in.

In coordinating the event, USO-metro had the assistance of the American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC), which is a non-profit, public-private partnership dedicated to improving government through the application of information technology.  ACT-IAC provides a trusted forum where government and industry professionals can exchange information and collaborate on technology issues in the public sector.

The winning team was Naval Communication Security Material Systems.  Team Members: Derek Despard, Matthew Middleton, Neil Teves, Michael Hubbard, Curtis Poole.

Congrats to our sharp-shooting members!!

Tough Mudder Team Raises over $19,000 for Veterans

On Saturday, May 28th a hardcore team from development studios Treyarch, Neversoft, and Activision’s headquarters conquered the 10+ mile endurance challenge, known as the Tough Mudder in Snow Valley, California.

Navigating the course’s various obstacles, including barbed wire, moats, high walls and a run through fire, tested the strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie of every participant. Check out the videos here for a taste of what this event is really made of.

In the end our team was tried, tested, and was not found wanting. Congratulations to our tough mudders!

In addition to completing the course itself, these brave souls also raised more than $19,000 for the Call of Duty Endowment. Monies raised will go to support the Endowment’s mission of helping soldiers transition to civilian careers after their military service.

Congrats again to our Tough Mudders on this epic achievement and thanks to everyone who donated to support our veterans!

Reflecting on the Memorial Day Effort Special Guest Post from Brian Stann, President, Hire Heroes USA

Each year as Memorial Day approaches, we reflect on the sacrifices our veterans make on behalf of each and every one of us –sacrifices made not only for Americans but, for the good of the free world.  The US Special Operations raid against Osama Bin Laden in April certainly reminded Americans a little earlier this year of those unbelievable sacrifices—in the name of honor, security, freedom and justice.

Right now, despite years of honorable military service and sometimes physical or emotional scars acquired in the line of duty, our heroes return home to a downed economy and a tough job market.  In March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its yearly summary, indicating in 2010, over one million veterans were out of work.  Hardest hit are our youngest heroes ages 18-24: a staggering 22 percent of male veterans and 15 percent of female veterans in this age range are unemployed.

The contributing factors to high veteran unemployment often originate in the complex and brutal battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.  This is particularly true for those service members that were wounded or are disabled.  In addition, many young veterans lack interviewing experience or practical knowledge about preparing a resume.   As our heroes look to gain sustainable civilian careers, they often find they require specific employment know-how and have trouble networking in the civilian sector.

Notwithstanding these challenges, our veterans have so much to offer civilian employers.  Veterans are leaders; they have been trained to learn new skills quickly while understanding practical ways to manage people, time, and resources in order to achieve goals.  Veterans are vastly experienced at accomplishing tasks on time and in spite of tremendous amounts of stress and adversity.

Realizing the difficulty returning service members face when reentering civilian life, the Departments of Defense and Labor are working jointly to improve reintegration programs and job services for veterans in order to make the transition easier. We applaud these federal efforts, while recognizing that program initiatives to eliminate veteran unemployment are not solely the responsibility of the US government. Businesses and not-for-profit organizations have shared in the security provided by our Nation’s veterans, and are uniquely equipped to help address veteran unemployment.

Enter Activision’s CEO Bobby Kotick, who was deeply troubled to learn about the shocking number of unemployed veterans.  With Activision’s most popular selling video game series, Call of Duty®, Kotick created the Call of Duty Endowment, a non-profit entity to help address the issue.  For almost two years, the Endowment has had a national campaign to raise awareness for the critical issue of veterans’ unemployment and has already donated more than $1 million to assist those organizations that provide our former service members with job training, educational services and job placement.

This Memorial Day, the Call of Duty Endowment worked with Hire Heroes USA, a not-for-profit organization offering transition assistance, job search assistance and job placement services for veterans—especially those wounded or disabled—as they transition from the military into the civilian workforce.  The free services offered by Hire Heroes USA help veterans and their spouses seamlessly transition back to civilian life.

In addition to veteran training and job searches, Hire Heroes USA works to match veterans’ career interests, qualifications and transferable skills to benefit a partnering company, ensuring a flawless fit.

HHUSA and the Call of Duty Endowment partnered on a similar campaign to help drive awareness for the issue, which also supported HHUSA’s work in this field.  And those resources have already been put to good use.  In less than a year, HHUSA has helped more than 150 veterans find jobs, revised nearly 700 resumes and held countless individual career-counseling sessions. Five transition assistance workshops have already been held for nearly 100 wounded or disabled service members in 2011, with at least one scheduled workshop per month going forward.

This work is a prime example of ways private and public sectors can cooperate to reward our proud veterans with meaningful and long-lasting employment.  While news is getting better on the job front for our returning veterans, there is still so much more to be done. We must ensure that veterans have ample training and assistance, so that they can fully reintegrate into their lives with family and friends by finding sustainable, family-wage employment with the tremendous skills they have acquired while serving our country.  We challenge our nation’s job sectors—do your part, hire a veteran.

Brian Stann is President of Hire Heroes USA, a not-for-profit organization providing transition assistance, job search assistance, and job placement services for returning Veterans. Hire Heroes USA is headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia and works with veterans across the Nation.

Activision CEO, Bobby Kotick, Welcomes Memorial Day Campaign!

We are into day two of our Memorial Day campaign to increase grant funding for Hire Heroes USA (HHUSA) and Activision’s CEO, Bobby Kotick, wants to get the word out! A kickoff address about this exciting campaign has just made it onto Military.com.

Be sure to check out the post from Bobby Kotick and make sure to donate your Facebook status.  Remember, for every person who donates their status, the Call of Duty Endowment will increase HHUSA’s grant by $1 – up to $50,000!

Help Veterans This Memorial Day By Donating Your Status!

It’s official, the Call of Duty Endowment has just kicked off its 2011 Memorial Day Facebook campaign to help our nations veterans! For the second year, the Call of Duty Endowment has paired up with Hire Heroes USA (HHUSA) in an effort to increase awareness about veterans’ unemployment. The Call of Duty Endowment has already given HHUSA at $20,000 grant—but HHUSA needs your help to increase that funding. For every person who “donates” their Facebook status between now and Monday, the Call of Duty Endowment will increase HHUSA’s funding by $1—up to $50,000.

Remember all of the brave men and women who have served this Memorial Day by donating your Facebook Status!

ACTIVISION’S TOUGH MUDDER TEAM NEEDS YOUR HELP!

Who knew the guys who make video games could be so tough?

This Memorial Day Weekend, a bunch of hardcore fellas (and one gal) from development studios Treyarch, Neversoft, and Activision’s headquarters will be running the 10+ mile endurance challenge, known as the Tough Mudder in Snow Valley, California.  And they’re doing it for a great cause – to raise funds to support the Call of Duty Endowment.  For those that don’t know – You don’t just “run” the Tough Mudder – it involves navigating obstacles like barbed wire, scaling high walls, swimming moats, running through fire, and getting electric shocks. Better them than us!  But it’s for a great cause, and we want to support them.

How can you help? Donate to the Call of Duty Endowment here on behalf of the “Tough Mudder team” before they run the race on Saturday, May 28^th.   And help us spread the word through Facebook and Twitter by sharing this post’s link!

All donated proceeds will go to the Call of Duty Endowment.  Below is the full Activision team participating.  Thanks to them for all their help and to you for donating!

RONNIE FAZIO (Treyarch)

CALEB TURNER (Treyarch)

GAVIN LOCKE (Treyarch)

BRIAN BARNES (Treyarch)

DAN SAVAGE (Neversoft)

TODD SZALLA (Activision)

CHRIS BAILEY (Activision)

ROXANA DEVORE (Activision)

MARCUS SANFORD (Activision)

CHRIS WILSON (Activision)

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

PVA Vocational Rehab Office Opens In Boston With Help From The Call of Duty Endowment

It’s a big day for veterans in the Boston area. Today the doors to the Boston Paralyzed Veterans of America Vocational Rehabilitation office open for the first time. The new office will provide disabled veterans with the services needed in order to enter the workforce and will be matched with hiring businesses and organizations. The Boston facility was established by funding from the Call of Duty Endowment and a partnership with the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

With veterans’ unemployment at such high levels, especially among disabled veterans, the Boston office is a welcomed sight. Gordon Mansfield (USA-Ret.), Call of Duty Endowment Advisory Board member, was in attendance to speak about this exciting event, “today we challenge our nation’s job sector – private and public – to step up and hire more veterans with disabilities.”

The Call of Duty Endowment is honored to have played a part in the creation of such a great facility. The PVA’s new Vocational Rehab office will empower many disabled veterans by providing them with the services needed to find worthy employment.