Olympic Committee to host ‘Warrior Games’ for wounded military members

The Pentagon announced Thursday that some 200 wounded
members of the military and veterans will compete in the inaugural Warrior Games
to be held May 10-14 in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Events will include shooting, swimming, archery, track,
discus, shotput, cycling, sitting volleyball and wheelchair basketball. Army
Brig. Gen. Gary Cheek, commander of the U.S. Army Warrior Transition Command, made
the announcement at a Pentagon news conference on Thursday.

Athletes will be recruited from each military service,
including the Coast Guard, through an independent selection process, according
to the Pentagon’s news service. Competitors will train with Olympic and
Paralympics coaches at the Olympic training facilities in Colorado for about a
month before the actual competition.

The competition is open to military members and veterans
with bodily injuries as well as mental wounds of war, such as post-traumatic
stress and traumatic brain injury, according to the Pentagon’s news service.

The Army will send 100 soldiers chosen from a pool of almost
9,000 wounded warriors; the Marine Corps will send 50 competitors; the Navy,
Air Force and Coast Guard will send 25 each.

“While we’ve made enormous progress in all the military
services in our warrior care … it’s not enough,” Cheek said.

“And what we have to do with our service members is inspire
them to reach for and achieve a rich and productive future — to defeat their
illness or injury to maximize their abilities and know that they can have a
rich and fulfilling life beyond what has happened to them in service to their
nation.”