FORT BLISS, Texas -- Athletes with air rifles and air pistols lined up at Milam Gym March 7 during the shooting competition on the second day of the 2016 Army Trials at Fort Bliss.
Separated from their electronic targets by 10 meters, athletes had 15 minutes to sight their targets and prepare for the qualification rounds that would cut the field from 24 to eight, and ultimately the top three, in air rifle and air pistol.
A challenge of accuracy and control, shooting is a sport that requires athletes to focus solely on their shot, a welcome diversion for many athletes competing in the event.
"Shooting is my way of disappearing from the world," said Army Reserve Spc. Sydney Davis currently assigned to Fort Belvoir, Va. Warrior Transition Unit. "It is my meditation, a way for me to push aside my stresses and focus on nothing but my shot."
Davis, who placed fourth in the 2015 Warrior Games in air rifle, says keeping her mind in a positive place, is necessary for success on the scoreboard.
"This is a game of decimals and every shot counts," said Davis. "Every time I tell myself, 'this is the shot, this is the shot that is going right down the middle.' I have to believe that and see that shot before I ever pull the trigger to make it happen."
Earning a perfect score of 10.9 by getting 'right down the middle' as Davis refers, and scoring a 10.8, is a difference of only half a millimeter on the target. Davis earned a perfect score on her last shot of the day, earning her second place here in air rifle; 1.2 points behind 1st Lt. Michael Matthews.
Mathews, a first time Army Trials participant, currently assigned to the Warrior Transition Battalion at Ft. Stewart, Georgia. where he is undergoing treatment for cancer.
"Shooting is therapeutic, almost medicinal, for me," said Matthews. "I am on my own, away from everyone else and everything else that's going on in my life. I'm able to stay inside my own head and relax."
Matthews, who has been shooting for seven years, says he could hear the crowd and the excitement during the competition, which made his heart rate pick up, but he was always able to calm himself back down and think of nothing but the next shot.
"I have a shot process that I go through every time," said Matthews. "I just breathe, relax and do what I know how to do."
The Army Trials, which continue through March 10, is an adaptive sports competition for wounded, ill and injured Soldiers and veterans. Approximately 100 athletes are competing in archery, cycling, track and field, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming and wheelchair basketball.
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