Air Force Team Takes 3rd in Gymnastics Championships
April 14th, 2011 | Air Force Gymnastics | Posted by Alan Lessig
04/10/2011 – U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet Samantha Jones performs a floor exercise during the individual event finals at the 2011 USA Gymnastics Collegiate National Championships held at the U.S. Air Force Academy’s Cadet West Gym in Colorado Springs, Colo., April 10, 2011. Teammate Brittany Dutton of Air Force tied for first at 9.800 for the uneven bars title, and Air Force took third overall in the Team Finals. (DoD photo by Mike Kaplan, U.S. Air Force/Released)
Bataan Death March Memorial Marathon
April 14th, 2011 | After Action | Posted by Alan Lessig
Since 1993, White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico has held the Bataan Memorial Death March, an annual marathon honoring those who defended the Philippine Islands during World War II. April 9 marked the 69th anniversary of the original tragedy when 75,000 American and Filipino service members surrendered to Japanese forces. The POWs were forced on a deadly 50+ mile march out of Bataan peninsula and were subjected to brutal treatment, starvation, and the Japanese soldiers shooting and bayoneting anyone that was too weak to keep up the pace of the march.
Last weekend, some of the few remaining survivors attended the marathon to lend their support to the competitors at the start and finish lines of the grueling 26.2 or 15.2 mile courses. Service members competed in two categories — Military Light, where they can wear civilian running clothes and shoes, and Military Heavy, where they are required to wear their uniform and carry a 35-pound ruck sack.
The top finisher in the Men’s Military Heavy division was Mehmet Danis from Toronto, Canada, who finished the marathon in 4:40:00. The top female Military Heavy finisher was Amberly Glitz with a time of 6:19:21.
Army becomes bowl eligible
November 15th, 2010 | Army Football | Posted by Alan Lessig
Army’s Stephen Anderson, (50), Sean Westphal (22), Josh Powell (46) and their teammates celebrate after defeating Kent State 45-28 on Nov. 13. With this victory, Army became bowl eligible for the first time since 1996. All three service academies have winning records and are bowl eligible, with Navy already scheduled to play in the Poinsettia Bowl on Dec. 23. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)
Winter Games in the sandbox
March 4th, 2010 | Afghanistan Army Hockey Iraq | Posted by Alan Lessig
Inspired by the 2010 Winter Olympics in Canada, deployed service members in Iraq and Afghanistan held their own athletic competitions. At COB Speicher in Iraq, U.S. Division North held a “biathlon” for 40 soldiers, one sailor and one airman. The event had them run 3.7 miles out to a firing range where they had to shoot for score and then the same distance back to the finish line at COB Speicher. They were scored by a combination of run-time and their shooting score. The event was won by:
• Spc. Douglas Long (US), Male Winner, 2/25th AVN Bn., 25th ID CAB
• 1st Lt. Valerie Aquino (US), Female Winner, 209th ASB, 25th ID CAB
At Kandahar Air Base, it was more of a team effort as the USA (Army) took on Canada (Army) in a hockey final rematch. There wasn’t any ice, but there was plenty of sand for them to slide around on.
Olympic two-man bobsled
February 23rd, 2010 | After Action | Posted by Alan Lessig
USA-3 driver Sgt. Mike Kohn, a soldier in the Virginia National Guard, and Nick Cunningham run through turn seven during the second of four competition runs Feb. 20 at the Whistler Sliding Center in Whistler, British Columbia. The pair finished 12th overall. (Photo by Sam Riche/ USA TODAY)
Sgt. Mike Kohn settles into the bobsleigh in front of brakeman Bill Schuffenhauer during two-man bobsleigh training heats Feb. 18 at the Whistler Sliding Center in Whistler, B.C. (Photo by Christopher Gannon/ USA TODAY)
The USA-2 two-man bobsleigh team of driver Sgt. John Napier, a soldier in the Vermont National Guard, and brakeman Steve Langton navigate turn 15 during two-man bobsleigh training heats Feb. 18 . They finished 10th in the final standings. (Photo by Christopher Gannon, USA TODAY)
USA-1, piloted by former soldier Steven Holcomb with brakeman Curtis Tomasevicz, competes during the men’s two-man bobsled final competition at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics in Whistler, British Columbia, on Feb. 21. They were the top American team, finishing in 6th place. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)
Army veteran pilots Olympic bobsled
February 15th, 2010 | Army | Posted by Alan Lessig
Utah National Guard veteran and former member of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program Steven Holcomb takes you for a ride in the four-man bobsled during a training run in Park City, Utah, while training for the 2010 Olympics being held in Vancouver.
Vail Veterans Program
February 10th, 2010 | Army | Posted by Alan Lessig
Double-amputee Kevin Pannell snowboards toward a ski instructor through a half pipe Jan. 29 in Vail, Colo. Pannell, from Portland, Ore., lost both legs in a grenade attack when his Army patrol was ambushed by Iraqi insurgents in 2004. He was part of a group of a dozen war wounded and their families participating in the Vail Veterans Program winter ski retreat. The program is designed to help severely wounded U.S. service members rehabilitate and rebuild confidence through learning to ski and snowboard. Some of the wounded are flown in directly from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. The visits to the Rocky Mountain retreat have been incorporated into Walter Reed’s rehabilitation program for troops who have suffered from traumatic injuries, including amputations, brain damage and other severe wounds, most of which were sustained in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. (Photos by John Moore/Getty Images)
Wounded veteran Kevin Pannell shows a prosthesis to a child after changing it out for a more athletic leg in order to snowboard.
Air Force Academy loses to TCU
February 8th, 2010 | Air Force Basketball | Posted by Alan Lessig
Air Force guard Michael Lyons (14) grabs a rebound between TCU guards Kevin Butler (24) and Garlon Green (33) in the second half of TCU’s 65-51 win Saturday at the Air Force Academy’s Clune Arena. Air Force’s record is now 9-13. (AP Photo/The Gazette, Kevin Kreck)
Navy sweeps Army with 8th straight win in series
December 12th, 2009 | After Action Army-Navy game | Posted by Alan Lessig
A Navy midshipman brought along a pair of brooms to celebrate the Naval Academy's record 8th win in a row over the Army team from West Point. Army hasn't won a game in the series since 2001. (Alan Lessig / Staff)
Navy Quarterback Sings Alma Mater With Midshipmen
December 12th, 2009 | After Action Army-Navy game | Posted by Alan Lessig
Navy Midshipmen sing the alma mater with MVP quarterback Ricky Dobbs after defeating Army 17-3.