Soldier finds new ways to take flight

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Christophe Paul | U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Timothy Sifuentes, Warrior Transition Unit, Ft. Riley, Kan., converses with Staff Sgt. Monica Martinez, Warrior Transition Battalion, Bethesda, Md., before cycling training for the 2015 Department Of Defense Warrior Games at Fort Belvoir, Va., June 14, 2015. Sifuentes and Martinez are two of more than 40 active duty and veteran athletes training at Fort Belvoir. Sifuentes will represent Team Army in the field, swimming and cycling competitions and Martinez in the cycling, field, sitting volleyball, swimming, track and archery competitions, during the 2015 DOD Warrior Games held at Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Va., June 19-28. The 2015 DOD Warrior Games is an adaptive sports competition for wounded, ill and injured service members and Veterans. Approximately 250 athletes, representing teams from the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Special Operations Command and the British Armed Forces will compete in archery, cycling, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, track & field and wheelchair basketball. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Christophe Paul/Released)  

FORT BELVOIR, VA, UNITED STATES

06.14.2015

Courtesy Story

Army Recovery Care Program

By Flavia Hulsey
Western Regional Medical Command

FORT BELVOIR, Va. – Chief Warrant Officer 3 Timothy Sifuentes has flown more than 2,300 hours and completed nearly 1,000 combat missions in an OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter. The pilot acknowledged that flying is a part of who he is. So when injuries to his back, knee and a tear in his right glute forced him out of the cockpit, he had to find a new way to soar.

“What do I think I’ll get out of the (Department of Defense) Warrior Games experience? A new challenge. A new me, if you will,” said Sifuentes, a Glendive, Montana, native, and a former Fort Riley Warrior Transition Battalion Soldier, now with the 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division. “Yeah, I know I’ll never be 100 percent where I was prior to my injuries, but I can establish a new baseline.”

Thanks to the Adaptive Reconditioning Program offered through the WTB, Sifuentes, a former runner, was able to use cycling to recover from injuries. He will now compete in cycling, swimming and field events at the 2015 DOD Warrior Games June 19-28 at Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Virginia.

“Once I couldn’t compete in that particular sport (running) anymore, and I started the recovery process, I thought, ‘Let me give cycling a chance,’” he said. “Although much different, still, there are a lot of similarities. It’s very therapeutic for me. So you can go out and do a 10-mile run or you can go ride 30 miles. It’s just an opportunity to go clear your head. That’s the part I enjoy.”

Sifuentes also said he enjoys hitting new benchmarks in his fitness. When he began cycling, 10 miles was hard. He recently completed 100 miles over two days and has his sights set on other long-distance cycling challenges.

He’s also enjoyed adding sports to his workout routine. He started swimming after completing physical therapy in the pool sparked his interested in the sport. Swimming, combined with field events like shot-put and discus provide therapeutic benefits to his recovery, Sifuentes said.

“The biggest thing when you get an injury is it’s not only debilitating on your body but also the mental aspect,” he said. “It’s very self defeating sometimes, and it’s easy to sit on the couch and go, ‘Hey, you know what, I don’t want to do anything today.’ But when I have something to strive for – the (DOD) Warrior Games, the Army Trials, things like that where I push myself – I can look at the big picture.”

In the even bigger picture, Sifuentes is looking toward a second career. He will retire in April 2016.

“When you’ve done a job for so long, it becomes a part of who you are and a part of your identity. And that was the most daunting task for me – to get back out there and look at a potential professional growth and where I could go in a new career,” he said. “But I’ll be 37 years old, well young enough to get another job and do something productive for society.”

While Sifuentes was in the WTB, he worked with the staff to develop a transition plan, in the event that he was unable to complete his time in the Army. He even completed job interviews that led to conditional offers. And though Sifuentes chose to finish his Army career, once cleared, the skills he learned, he said, will serve him well in his next phase.

“The transition managers that are there, as well as the staff and (noncommissioned officers), if you’re willing to work with them, they’ll ensure what is due to you,” Sifuentes said.

Sifuentes said he encourages all Soldiers facing an injury or illness that could alter their military career to give the WTB a shot.

“To all Soldiers, at least give it a chance. Give it a shot,” he said. “Don’t dwell on what you can’t do. Think what can I do.”

It’s a lesson he also hopes to teach his five children, who he and his wife of 19 years have together.

“There’s ups and downs in life – challenges – but I think that makes us who we are,” Sifuentes said.

• Date Taken: 06.14.2015
• Date Posted: 06.14.2015 09:16
• Story ID: 166581
• Location: FORT BELVOIR, VA, US