Thirty of the Air Force’s wounded warriors are competing against a score of other athletes at the first Wounded Warrior Pacific Invitational this week. The Olympic-style competition will take place at JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, states a Dec. 30 release. “The goal of the Wounded Warrior Pacific Invitational isn’t necessarily to identify the most skilled athletes, but rather to showcase the incredible potential of wounded warriors through competitive sports,” said Tony Jasso, the Air Force’s wounded warrior adapted sports program manager. The week-long event began Jan. 5 and is just “one in a series of adaptive athletic events” leading up to the annual Warrior Games, states the release. The activities are modified to meet the abilities of the warriors, and open to all service members with injuries to their upper body, lower body, or spinal cord; serious illnesses; traumatic brain injuries; visual impairment; and post-traumatic stress disorder. The wounded warriors will compete in cycling, seated volleyball, swimming, track and field, and wheelchair basketball. The Warrior Games are set to take place in April. (See also Kicking off the Warrior Games.)
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. still “believes” in his mantra of “Accelerate Change or Lose”—and indicated the doctrinal changes it produced when he was Air Force Chief of Staff played a role in the service’s recent response to Iran’s aerial assault on Israel, he…