By Rick Burke, Navy Office of Community Outreach Public
Affairs
CHICAGO – The 2017 Department of Defense Warrior Games kicked off
June 30tth with competitions over the weekend in
shooting, sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball, and track.
Navy
Petty Officer 1st Class Carlos Valerio, (middle), an El Paso, Texas native, placed
7th in the 10m air pistol open qualification, earning a spot in the medal round
on July 6 and will also compete in cycling on this day.
“Team Navy” joins more than 250 seriously wounded, ill and injured
service members and veterans at the Department of Defense Warrior Games, which
will end on July 8.
Navy athletes are competing against competitors from the Army,
Marine Corps, Air Force, Special Operations Command, Australian Defense Force
and the United Kingdom Armed Forces in cycling, track and field, shooting,
swimming, archery, sitting volleyball and wheelchair basketball.
The Navy honors the sacrifices of wounded warriors by providing
them top-notch non-medical support through Navy Wounded Warrior (NWW) – Safe
Harbor. All enrollees in NWW are encouraged to make athletics a key component
of their recovery efforts. By promoting wounded warrior participation in
competitions like the Warrior Games, NWW helps enrollees heal through adaptive
sports.
These games provide an opportunity for athletes to grow
physically, mentally and spiritually from the sportsmanship and camaraderie
gained by representing their respective service teams in a friendly and
spirited competition. It is an opportunity for athletes to showcase their enduring
warrior spirit in the presence of their families and grateful nation.
- - Lt. Cmdr. Jenn Womble, Team
Navy Public Affairs
For more information about the 2017 DoD Warrior Games, please
visit http://www.dodwarriorgames.com/.