Photo By Seaman Caleb Kissner | Retired U.S. Navy Gunner’s Mate 1st Class Hillary Ruff, from Casa Grande, Arizona,...... read more read more
SAN DIEGO (March 25, 2026) - In February 2024, tragedy struck for retired U.S. Navy Gunner’s Mate 1st Class Hillary Ruff when she had a cardiac event that took over her physical and mental health. In the midst of the medical uncertainty, she found comfort in the Wounded Warrior Project and Warrior Games which helped get her body and mind right; getting herself back in the fight.
Ruff, a returning competitor to the Warrior Games, said that she wants to be able to encourage other people who are transitioning from in-service to retirement that there is a future.
The Warrior Games is a national annual military adaptive sports competition that celebrates the valor, recovery, and resilience of wounded, ill, or injured service members and qualifying veterans, using the power of the games to drive healing, empowerment, and renewed purpose.
Ruff participated in cycling, rowing, field, swimming and was the sitting volleyball team captain in the 2025 Wounded Warrior Games in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Her teammates and staff nominated her to win the “Heart of the Team” award, for someone who embodies not just bringing the energy for the team, but someone who still shows up through the good and the bad.
“Seeing the changes coming into Wounded Warriors as a returnee, you see different people who have different vibes,” said Ruff. “You get to experience and communicate differently.”
Ruff loves seeing former competitors becoming coaches. She said it brightens her world to be able to say she can help those in adaptive sports, even off the field later in the future. Ruff is seeking to earn her Master’s degree in public safety and emergency management and plans to incorporate herself with Wounded Warrior when she completes her degree.
“I would like to be able to have a public safety aspect from it and maybe even possibly become part of the team that navigates on making sure it’s safe for everyone to train or work at the games and be able to survey them,” said Ruff.
Adaptive sports featured in the Warrior Games are a part of each service branch/United States Special Operations Command Warrior Care Program. Within this program, adaptive sports provide reconditioning activities and competitive athletic opportunities to all wounded, ill, and injured service members to improve their physical and mental wellness throughout the continuum of recovery and transition. Modified equipment and additional classification systems allow each competitor to compete, regardless of their injury or illness.
“My advice to anybody that is part of or will be part of Wounded Warrior is to take advantage of everything it has to offer,” said Ruff. “At a minimum, chew the meat, spit out the bones; which means you take whatever you can get out of it and use whatever is able to work in your tool box.”
The 2026 Warrior Games, hosted by the U.S. Army Transformation & Training Command, brings together nearly 200 military service members to compete in adaptive sports as part of their recovery journeys. The participating Sailors and Coast Guardsmen are seeking to join Team Navy to compete in the 2026 Warrior Games in San Antonio, Texas, in June.
| Date Taken: | 03.25.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 04.01.2026 14:36 |
| Story ID: | 561759 |
| Location: | CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 21 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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