ARLINGTON, Va. - Three National Guard Soldiers are among the more than 100 wounded, ill and injured Soldiers and veterans at Fort Bliss in Texas to train and compete in a series of athletic events including archery, cycling, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, track and field and wheelchair basketball. The competitions - called the Army Trials - are conducted by the Army Warrior Transition Command March 6-10.
These events will help determine who will get a spot on the Department of Defense Warrior Games 2016 Army Team. About 250 athletes, representing teams from the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Special Operations Command and the British Armed Forces will compete in the DoD Warrior Games June 14-22 at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York.
The National Guard troops include two men and a woman. Here's a closer look at them:
'Adaptive reconditioning aided in my transition and recovery'
Massachusetts native Sgt. Carmalina Rowe will participate in swimming, cycling, wheelchair basketball and track. "Sports naturally fuel me with discipline, motivation, dedication and most importantly, happiness," Rowe says. "Sports have helped me to clear my mind of anxious or depressive thoughts."
Career-wise, she would like to earn a PhD in psychology. "I would most appreciate a career in which I could teach others how to cope with PTSD," she says. "I know I can't help anyone until I heal myself; therefore this is a long-term goal."
'I was never into sports growing up'
Spc. Dusty Shepherd, 24, of Terrebonne, Ore., is a carpentry and masonry specialist with Oregon's 234th Engineer Company. The three-year Guard member injured his right ankle while deployed in Kuwait.
He will compete in archery, air rifle and wheelchair basketball. Shepherd says athletic competition "is a different form of therapy. It builds camaraderie and gives you a different type of support system."
His disciplines, archery and air rifle, have helped him learn more patience and "persevere to become better," he says.
'Too many of us fall through the cracks'
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Roland Serrano, suffered a traumatic brain injury when he was assaulted at a pancake restaurant in his native Kenosha, Wis. Representing the Army at Warrior Games would be "an absolute honor and privilege," says Serrano, who is stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky.
The most significant sport for him is cycling, he said. "Before that I couldn't exercise without getting vertigo."