By Rick Burke, Navy
Office of Community Outreach Public Affairs
CHICAGO – The 2017 Department of
Defense Warrior Games kicked off June 30th with
competitions over the weekend in shooting, sitting volleyball, wheelchair
basketball, and track. Navy Master Chief Petty Officer Richard Curtis, (right), a Roanoke, Virginia resident, is a multisport athlete competing in swimming, track, and wheelchair basketball.
Curtis and the rest of “Team Navy”
join more than 250 seriously wounded, ill and injured service members and
veterans at the Department of Defense Warrior Games.
He will compete for a medal on July
7 as a member of Navy’s wheelchair basketball team, who has not lost a game in
this year’s competition, and the swimming event scheduled on the last day of competition, 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. Jesus Uranga, Team Navy Public Affairs
For
more information about the 2017 DoD Warrior Games, please visit http://www.dodwarriorgames.com/.