The U.S. Army allocated millions of dollars to sponsor a wide range of esports tournaments, individual high profile Call of Duty streamers, and Twitch events in the last year to specifically grow its audience with Gen-Z viewers, and especially women and Black and Hispanic people, according to internal Army documents obtained by Motherboard.For example, the Army proposed using Twitch influencers to "create original content videos showcasing the wide range of skillsets offered by the Army," and to use influencers to "familiarize [their] fans on Army values and opportunities."Zedra previously provided the likeness for the character Mara in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) and is a self-described “All American, 2A [second amendment] Gun Slinger.” Swagg and Zedra are listed next to an asterix under the table, which says the Army will reallocate funds based on conversations with the streamers.An August 2021 email included in the documents says “At this time, we intend to ‘pause all activities’ immediately with Activision due to serious allegations of sexual harassment at their workplace, and also recommended tha the Marketing Engagement Brigade not send their eSports team to the tournament.” The email came around two weeks before a planned Army sponsorship of an upcoming tournament.In Army marketing, we must meet the youth where they are and that is online.”The U.S. military broadly and the Army specifically have been struggling to recruit Gen Z. Covid restrictions hurt recruitment efforts, but so have shifting perceptions of the military and high standards around physical health, tattoos, and past drug use."