Subscribe
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Marksmen stood at their stations like statues down a line as they set their aim and squeezed the trigger. The ping of the airsoft pellets hitting targets reverberated in the room for a short moment, and as if on cue, the competitors began to move again, one-by-one. They glanced around to take in their scores, breathing softly in an attempt to calm their nerves before taking the next shot.
The final individual sport of the 2014 Warrior Games, the pistol and rifle shooting competitions, took place here, Oct. 3.
“I really think that this is one of the most rehabilitative sports that veterans can be involved in,” said retired Navy Lt. j.g. Laura Root, a competitor in two rifle categories.
A lot of veterans have traumatic injuries related to shooting because of their combat experience, she said. When service members work to reclaim shooting as a constructive sport rather than associating it with memories of warfare, it can be very helpful in coping with post-traumatic stress disorder or anxiety.
Not only helpful for combat veterans, Root has discovered that shooting a rifle can be therapeutic as she manages her illness. In 2012, she was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, a progressive disease which causes muscle weakness, mobility issues, vision impairment and organ damage.
“When I was first diagnosed, I thought it was the end of my life,” Root said. “It was the end of my military career, unfortunately, and sports have helped me to kind of redefine how I’m going to live the rest of my life. I have a degenerative disorder. I will probably end up in a wheelchair, but the more time I spend with (wounded warriors), I realize that it is not the end of the world or my life, and I’ll just have to adapt my life around it.”
And adapt she has, overcoming her limitations and earning a gold medal in the rifle standing open category and a silver medal in the rifle prone open category.
“I’m not sure if anyone saw it, but my hand cramped and I couldn’t move it for a couple of seconds there,” she said. “I lost mobility, but I just learned to shoot through muscle spasms, vision problems and all kind of internal balance issues that go with a neuro-muscular disease.”
Root’s successes at the shooting competition went beyond her marksmanship. A team player, She celebrated in the success of her Navy teammates Airman Sadie Strong, and Retired Petty Officer 1st Class John Kremer. Kremer won gold in the rifle prone SH1 category and Strong took the gold in the rifle prone category.
“I feel awesome,” Strong said. “I wasn’t expecting it, and I was just really happy with the results. I did my personal best today in the qualification round. I usually get a 416, and today I got a 418, so that was really exciting!”
Though shooting the air rifle and pistol on the range can be an individual experience, all who competed had people backing them up. Many have cheered for their particular service to win; however, all were unified by a larger goal - recovery. It is through this common purpose that the wounded warrior community, as a whole, finds ways to continually give support to their brothers- and sisters-in-arms, regardless of the uniform they served in.
“When we’re out here, there’s a lot on our minds, but we’re, first and foremost, thinking about each other,” Root said. “I’ve had such an incredible experience getting to know every single veteran from every single team. They are the American heroes, I think, and I’m just so glad to be part of the adaptive sports community. I’m really proud of everyone here.”
The results for the events were as follows:
Pistol Open
1st place – Clayton McDaniel, Marines
2nd place – David Neumer, U.S. Special Operations Command
3rd place – Phillip Shockley, Marines
Pistol SH1
1st place – Seth Pena, Air Force
2nd place – Andres Burgos, Marines
3rd place – Janae Piper, Marines
Rifle Standing Open
1st place – Laura Root, Navy
2nd place – Erin Stewart, Army
3rd place – Rhoden Galloway, Army
Rifle Standing SH2
1st place – Pedro Aquino, Marines
2nd place – Richard Stadler, Marines
3rd place – Andrew Evans, Air Force
Rifle Standing SH1
1st place – John Arbino, Army
2nd place – Jenae Piper, Marines
3rd place – Jeremiah Means, Air Force
Rifle Prone SH1
1st place – John Kremer, Navy
2nd place – John Arbino, Army
3rd place – Jamie Sclater, Marines
Rifle Prone SH2
1st place – Richard Stalder, Marines
2nd place – Pedro Aquino, Marines
3rd place – Leonard Anderson, Air Force
Rifle Prone Open
1st place – Sadie Strong, Navy
2nd place – Laura Root, Navy
3rd place – Rhoden Galloway, Army
| Date Taken: | 10.03.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 10.04.2014 21:38 |
| Story ID: | 144314 |
| Location: | COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, US |
| Web Views: | 69 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Shooting for sucess, by MSgt Jette Carr, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
LEAVE A COMMENT