The Call of Duty Endowment is a non-profit organization co-founded by Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision Blizzard. The Endowment seeks to help veterans find high-quality careers by supporting groups that prepare them for the job market and by raising awareness of the extraordinary value veterans bring to the workplace.

In addition, Activision Blizzard is also committing $30 million in additional funding to support the program for the next five years. To coincide with today’s announcement, and in recognition of Military Appreciation Month, the Endowment released a white paper detailing veteran employment “lessons learned” over the organization’s 12-year history, with recommendations for veterans, employers, policy makers and philanthropic donors.

Over the last twelve years, the Call of Duty Endowment has helped more than 100,000 veterans find meaningful careers after their military service. The Endowment partners with the most effective nonprofit veterans organizations in both the US and UK to deliver low cost, high value job placement, the service most requested by veterans.

In honor of the achievement and for this year’s Military Appreciation Month, Activision is bringing back the C.O.D.E. Defender Pack for use in Call of Duty: Warzone and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. One hundred percent of net proceeds will go directly to the cause, aiding the Endowment’s mission of placing unemployed and underemployed veterans from the United States and United Kingdom into careers that best utilize their tremendous skill set.

Help the Endowment reach its goal of placing another 100K vets and more by purchasing the C.O.D.E. Defender Pack.

Here’s what’s included:

• “The Defender” Rare Pistol Weapon Blueprint with custom-themed Optic and Reticle
• “Hot and Cold” Weapon Camo
• “Old School” Epic Watch
• “Honor the Call” Rare Weapon Charm
• “Endowment” Rare Weapon Sticker
• “Secret C.O.D.E.” Rare Spray
• “C.O.D.E. All Star” Rare Spray
• “Zoomin” Rare Emblem
• “Flat Back” Rare Emblem
• “Sturdy Stripes” Rare Emblem
• Hooah” Rare Calling Card

The offer ends once $2 million USD have been raised for the cause. These items are available for use in Warzone and Modern Warfare. The Defender Pack is available for purchase on the PlayStation Store, the Microsoft Store, and the Battle.net Shop.

The new white paper, titled Lessons Learned for the Future of Veteran Employment, highlights areas of opportunity to provide improved job placement services for our heroes upon completion of their military service. 

• Less than 1/10 of 1 percent of $300 billion veteran spend is focused on employment opportunities although successful transition into a high-quality careers reduces costs associated with housing and health care. 
• Veterans are still vastly underemployed as compared to the general population: According to The Veterans Metrics Initiative (TVMI), 61% of veterans are underemployed and 55% believe that they are more experienced than the job they currently have requires. 
• Modest, individualized assistance such as improving interview skills and resume coaching have a dramatic impact – especially for female veterans and people of color.
• TVMI Data shows that:
• Veterans are nearly three times more likely to find a job if they practice interviewing with a coach or mentor
• Veterans are twice as likely to find a job if an experienced mentor or coach helps them with resume writing
• Currently:
• 10% of male veterans of color are not employed and seeking work
• 14% of women veterans are not employed and seeking work
• 22% of women veterans of color are not employed and seeking work

To help get veterans back to work, please visit here, or for more information about the Call of Duty Endowment, please visit here.