Courtesy Photo | WCAP Soldier-Athlete John Wayne Joss III, who competed in his first Paralympics in Rio...... read more read more
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JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas – Competing in the Paralympic Games for the third time still excites Sgt. 1st Class John Wayne Joss III.
Joss, a Soldier-Athlete with the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program, finished second in the R6 50m Rifle Prone SH1 during the U.S. Paralympic Trials- Shooting Part Three on April 26 in Talladega, Alabama, that qualified him for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.
“I am excited and ready to the represent the country and the Army at the Games,” said Joss, who has been with Army WCAP since 2017. “I am excited to see a lot of the athletes again that I have been shooting with over these 12 years.”
Joss, who competed in his first Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, has flourished since joining Army WCAP in 2017 after nine years with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit. He credited WCAP for allowing him to purchase the correct ammunition and equipment, and it has allowed him to attend the necessary training camps. All factored into his success at the Paralympic Trials.
The conditions were much more difficult, and the competition stiffer, than past Paralympic qualifiers, said Joss, who enlisted in the Army in 2004 as an indirect fire infantryman and was injured during a deployment to Iraq and received the Purple Heart. Joss endured rehabilitation and was assigned to an infantry battalion as a mortar gunnery instructor.
Techniques that Joss used while taking aim at his third Paralympic berth involved process and deliberate breathing.
“Process is a set of rules you apply to each shot you take,” Joss said. “We use trough breathing technique. This means, once you breath out your body comes to a natural pause, which is the trough, and that’s when you take your shot, before the next inhale.”
Because of his training and familiarity with the shooting range in Châteauroux, where the Paralympic shooting events will be held Aug. 28-Sept. 8, Joss is confident he’ll return with a medal.
“I feel like I can make the final because I will have a lot of training time before the event,” Joss said. “I have also been doing wind training, and I earned a few international medals as well as the qualifying quota.”
| Date Taken: | 05.15.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 05.15.2024 19:04 |
| Story ID: | 471383 |
| Location: | FORT CARSON, CO, US |
| Hometown: | COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, US |
| Hometown: | CORSICANA, TX, US |
| Hometown: | FORT CARSON, CO, US |
| Web Views: | 35 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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