FORT BLISS, Texas -- Retired Spc. Michael Sheeley's goal this summer is to be accepted into law enforcement training for the Fayetteville, North Carolina, police department. Before that, he has something to prove. His immediate goal is to be selected to the Army Team and compete in the 2016 Department of Defense Warrior Games. He was selected as an alternate in 2015.
Sheeley is training at Fort Bliss, Texas, in preparation for the 2016 U.S. Army Trials. More than 100 wounded, ill and injured Soldiers and veterans are currently at here to train and compete in a series of athletic events including archery, cycling, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, track and field, and wheelchair basketball.
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 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, New York.
Athletes strive to compete in multiple sports to increase their chances of making the Army team. Most compete in three or four sports--Sheeley has signed up to try out in all of them.
The coaching at the Army Trials, including coaches who focus on mental strength, are providing a great source of direction. He said the coaches make an effort to give everyone individual attention. "They get in touch with every person to offer guidance and support," Sheely said.
Sheeley is looking beyond training for the Army Trials and the Army team. His goal is a career as a police officer, and he is working toward an associate degree in criminal justice.
That's not all though; he is also well on his way toward a private pilot license. That goal started while he was still at the Warrior Transition Unit at Fort Bragg. He hasn't ruled out the possibility of flying helicopters and considered applying to warrant officer school to become a helicopter pilot before his injury.
Sheeley is appreciative of the help he received at the WTU. When he first entered the WTU, he had put on weight and was down on his future. "The WTU helped me tremendously with my attitude, physical fitness and allowed me to make lifelong friends," he said.
He is very complementary of participating in adaptive sports and adaptive reconditioning.
Adaptive reconditioning includes any physical activities that wounded, ill and injured Soldiers participate in to support their physical and emotional well-being. These activities contribute to a successful recovery for Soldiers whether they are transitioning back to active duty or, as it turned out for Sheeley, to civilian life.
"Adaptive reconditioning helped me lose weight," he said, and with the camaraderie of new friends, became the best path to recovery for him. He has already trained in all of the adaptive sports at the Army Trials.
"It is a way for me to show other wounded warriors that adaptive reconditioning can help and being injured is not the end of the world," Sheely said.
Sheeley knows there is hard work ahead of him. He recognizes that acceptance into law enforcement training hinges on his passing a physical. He has a knee injury that may never completely heal, but he has focused on extending his running ability. At one point in his recovery he had trouble running more than about 100 yards. Now that distance is easily a mile.
For the moment though, his focus is the Army Trials. He enjoys the competition, and cohesiveness is what he enjoys about the trials. His advice is not to focus on only one sport; "try all of them," he said. "See what you have a natural talent for."
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