From these experiences I would like to impart to you conversations that I have either been a part of or witnessed during my time away from home.
“Hey, Jay, do you want to come over tonight? We are going to have a Halo tournament.â€
“Hey man, you got the new Gears of War game sent to you right? Can I borrow it when you’re done?â€
“Bro, I picked up the new Forza when we were in Bahrain, let’s get started.â€
For example, on my last deployment a squadron-mate was unable to enjoy Skyrim on the PS3 because of the well documented issues the system had running the game. Meanwhile, I clocked over 250 hours in Skyrim because, for an entire deployment, it was my sanctuary. It is where I went to calm down after a long day of flying. Although there were patches eventually made available to repair the unfortunate situation, he was never able to download the fixes because while deployed we simply do not have the ability to connect our systems to the internet.
But, the reason that I am so infuriated about it is that I, and my brothers and sisters in arms, will not ever be able to play Xbox One when deployed or on detachment. No longer will the sounds of Master Chief saving the human race echo through the hallowed halls of the USS Abraham Lincoln, or any other USS Ship, when we have a few hours respite. No longer will you see Marcus and Dom sawing through the Locust Horde at the bases in Afghanistan after the Marines have returned from patrol and want to escape their reality for a bit. Those days are now firmly behind us. Microsoft has single handedly alienated the entire military, and not just the U.S. military, the militaries of the entire world.