Air Assault - TwitchCon 2025

What is a Stack Up TwitchCon experience without us bringing out a couple of Veterans for a trip to the event? This year, in October, Stack Up brought out Air Force Veterans Andrew and Quinton for a weekend in San Diego to meet other streamers and have an all around good time on an all-expenses-paid trip.

Andrew was a B-52 mechanic whose Military career was cut short and who has long found refuge in gaming as he told us in his bio:

Andrew | MarineNote0 | Air Force | Veteran

I joined the Air Force in July 2016 as a B-52H mechanic (Crew Chief). I was stationed at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana with the 96th Aircraft Maintenance Unit (now known as the 96th Bomber Generation Squadron). My childhood dream was to become a pilot, and I wanted to commission and fly for the Air Force. After returning from a deployment, I was hit with heartbreaking news that I was going to be medically retired from the military. Not only that, but that I would never get to live my dream as a pilot. Even as a civilian. Gaming has always been an outlet for me and continues to be today. Gaming has allowed me to form friendships with people I have never met, it has allowed me to spend time with friends from home while in the military and now, it allows me to spend time with friends still in the military while I am out.

Quinton, meanwhile is a Veteran who struggled with homelessness and is now working to help other folks who have dealt with similar find the inspiration to live better.

Quinton | Offtheporchpod | Air Force | Veteran

I'm a veteran airman and really big gamer coming from homelessness in 2020 currently trying to get my degree in social media and digital marketing.

I was an airforce medic. i got out in 2014. this year i started my own channel (off the porch pod) to help more people like me that have had struggles in the past or just be a beacon for people through my gaming, podcast and love for wrestling.

Both of these Air Assault recipients sound like great guys who are using gaming and streaming to better their lives, spend time with people they care about, and taking their experiences to live and do better. It's really great to see, and we're glad we could bring them out to meet other gamers and streamers and explore the San Diego area outside of TwitchCon.

We brought out Andrew and Quinton thanks to the sponsorship of FluffyLegion, a steam of streamers who advocate for charities and support and promote smaller streamers while building a welcoming and positive community. If you want to know more about FlufflyLegion, check their team out on Twitch.

After the event, we checked in with Andrew and Quinton and they told us how the trip went in their own words:

Andrew | MarineNote0

I thoroughly enjoyed this trip. I enjoyed the off site activities, I enjoyed the convention itself, I had an amazing time at the block party which was one of my favorite moments!

The only drawbacks I would mention do not have anything to do with the StackUp team, just with the convention itself. There were no clear advertisements about meet and greets or the requirements (such as RSVPing) and it seemed that some vendors did not know what the schedule was or what Twitch expected of them. The TwitchCon app while is a great idea, needs improvement to give a better experience to attendees. The constant notifications telling you about giveaways, events starting, or convention quests did not typically provide a location or time other than “xxxx Event Starts Now!”

All in all, I had a memorable and fantastic trip. The entire team was a blast to hangout with, and I would say this definitely helped me recharge in a time in my life where my mental health was not in a good place. This event helped me begin the process of getting back on track.

Thank you to FluffyLegion and their community, and a huge thank you to StackUp for making a dream come true!

Quinton | Offtheporchpod

It felt entirely more natural and comfortable and different than any veteran experience I've ever had since I got out in 2014 and I'm grateful for that all the problems I had weren't even with stack up it was with the air bnb and twitchcon itself I really truly appreciate what this was and what will come from it

One of our favorite parts about TwitchCon is getting to take a photo with Stack Up supporters and redshirts attending the event.

We're very glad we could bring Quinton and Andrew out and that they had such a great time with Stack Up and the experiences we curated for them. While we can't directly fix TwitchCon, we hope event organizers will take note of attendees' concerns from 2025's event and make improvements for the future. It especially makes us proud that in spite of any trip ups on the event's part, our Air Assault recipients still had a great time with us.

Want to learn more about the Air Assaults program and how you can sponsor a trip? Hit the button below and navigate to our Tiltify page where you can learn more about fundraising with Stack Up. Hit the 'Programs' button at the top of the page to navigate to the Air Assaults page to learn more about how to nominate a Veteran for an all-expenses-paid trip!