Veteran returns to Army Trials: Takes up sailing to find inner peace

Photo By Robert Whetstone | U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ricardo Anthony Villalobos, retired, Lexington, N.C., does a pre-race inspection on his cycle, checking brakes, derailleur and tire pressure before the 30k open upright cycle competition at the Army Trials. More than 100 wounded, ill and injured Soldiers and veterans are at Fort Bliss to train and compete in a series of athletic events including archery, cycling, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, track and field, and wheelchair basketball. Army Trials, March 6-10, are conducted by the Army Warrior Transition Command and help determine who will get a spot on the Department of Defense Warrior Games 2016 Army Team. Approximately 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, N.Y. (U.S. Army photo by Robert Whetstone/Released)  

FORT BLISS, TX, UNITED STATES

03.10.2016

Story by Ronald Wolf 

Army Recovery Care Program

FORT BLISS, Texas – Last year retired Staff Sgt. Ricardo Villalobos fell in the 30k open upright cycling race in the Department of Defense Warrior Games at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia. He could not make up lost ground and finished fourth.

Villalobos, who goes by his middle name Anthony, is back at Fort Bliss competing in the 2016 U.S. Army Trials. His experience from last year makes him optimistic he can earn a spot on the team again. He already finished second in the men’s 30k open event.

Villalobos, accompanied by his 8-year-old service dog Bella Rose, is among more than 100 wounded, ill and injured Soldiers and veterans currently at Fort Bliss to train and compete in a series of athletic events including archery, cycling, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, track and field, and wheelchair basketball. Villalobos also competes in field and swimming events.

The Army Trials are conducted by the Army Warrior Transition Command March 6-10 and will help determine who will get a spot on the 2016 Army Team for the DoD Warrior Games. Approximately 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.

Cycling has been especially important as an adaptive sport to Villalobos as a recovery tool following combat injuries. “It got me out of my wheelchair,” he said.

Villalobos began to focus on the 2016 games after regional competitions for the trials in October 2015. Even though making the team last year gave him a spot in this year’s trials, he realized he needed to lose weight and was still slowed by his injuries.

In the past six months, he has improved his diet and dropped about 30 pounds.

Villalobos has, outside of training for the Army Trials, taken up another activity that fits neatly in the scope of adaptive sports.

Two years ago he was invited to go sailing by the Combat Wounded Veteran Challenge. The goal of the challenge is to “provide a therapeutic and safely competitive environment which promotes physical and mental health,” in such challenges as mountaineering or scuba diving. The sailing challenge develops basic sailing, leadership and teamwork skills.

Villalobos sailed with the group on a 75-foot schooner from Key West to the Dry Tortugas for ten days. “I’ve always loved the water,” Villalobos said, “But I had never been on a sailboat. I fell in love with it.”

In the summer of 2015 after the DoD Warrior games, the same group offered him a chance to go to sailing camp for novice sailors. “The moment I got on the water, I found I left all my worries back on shore,” explained Villalobos.

The camp led to meeting sailors who move sailboats for hire on the water; for example, from the middle-Atlantic states to Florida, for an owner who would prefer not to sail the boat himself on open ocean water. Through this Villalobos expanded his scope of friends who sailed.

Sailing, Villalobos said, “truly made him happy.”

So happy, in fact, that he bought a sailboat with money left to him by a grandfather who recently passed away. His grandfather encouraged him to do what it takes to find “inner peace.”

Sailing does that for Villalobos. “All your issues are left behind as soon as you are on the water,” he said. “I’ve seen more stars on a sailboat than I did in Afghanistan or Iraq,” he said.

Villalobos hopes to take some of his friends from the trials sailing with him. The new sailboat has berths for seven and there’s even a spot on the boat for Bella Rose.

What did Villalobos name his boat? He named it 'Inner Peace.'

• Date Taken: 03.10.2016
• Date Posted: 03.10.2016 13:33
• Story ID: 191912
• Location: FORT BLISS, TX, US