GEN. MARTIN E. DEMPSEY LEADS DELEGATION TO THE PARALYMPICS IN LONDON

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Navy Lt. Bradley Snyder, right, a member of the U.S. Paralympic Swimming Team, is interviewed by Army Sgt. Abigail Waldrop during team processing at the University of East London campus prior to the start of the Paralympic Games, in London, Aug. 28. Snyder advocates wounded warriors using sports to aid their rehabilitation and boost confidence. DOD photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.

Chairman Leads U.S. Delegation for Opening of Paralympic Games
By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
American Forces Press Service

LONDON, Aug. 29, 2012 - A U.S. delegation led by Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived here yesterday ahead of opening ceremonies for the 2012 Paralympic Games and visited today with Paralympic athletes.

Members of the delegation toured the Sports Dock at the University of East London campus, viewing one of the facilities athletes are using to prepare for the games.

"The biggest thing that we're doing is we're here to support our athletes," said Kareem Dale, special assistant to President Barack Obama for disability policy. "The president and the entire administration are behind them, rooting for them and cheering them on."

Dale, who is blind, had a message for the 227 U.S. Paralympians competing here.

"The message that not only I would send, but the president would send, is that we know, given the opportunity, our ... Paralympic athletes can achieve anything that they desire," he said. "And for those aspiring Paralympians, they should know that their country supports [them, too]. The people of America support you, and we believe in you."

Dale noted the current group of wounded warriors and other athletes with disabilities who are Paralympians already are achieving great things. Wounded warriors served their country extremely well, he added, so Americans need to make sure they are serving them.

"Certainly, one of the ways is sports," Dale said. "[It] is such a great tool so that people can get back in the swing of life, feel useful, feel productive and continue building on that team spirit that they learn in the military. It's just a great way for people to rehab and to get back into the swing of life.

"So for our wounded warriors," he continued, "we're going to continue to support them when they come home." Opportunities like the Paralympics help wounded warriors integrate back into society, he added.

Lisa Jackson, administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, also is part of the U.S. delegation. "It's an incredible honor to be able to represent the administration and all folks back home who would love to be here to cheer on our men and women," she said.

Jackson said she is excited to be able to support all the U.S. athletes.

"I will be in the stands cheering our athletes on when they enter the stadium, and be able to witness firsthand the excitement that comes with the anticipation of letting them get out and do what they do best, which is compete and represent our country."

PARALYMPIAN HEROS BEAR DOWN ON THE LONDON GAMES

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Navy Lt. Bradley Snyder, a member of the U.S. Paralympic swimming team, watches as some of his personal items are packed for shipping back to the United States as part of team processing prior to the start of the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, Aug. 28, 2012. DOD photo by Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr. 
Paralympians Complete Preparations in London
By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
American Forces Press Service

LONDON, Aug. 28, 2012 - Members of the U.S. Paralympic team completed their team processing and remain focused amid growing anticipation for the 2012 Paralympic Games here.

The Paralympic Games, held every four years following the Summer Olympics, are a multisport event for athletes with physical, mental and sensorial disabilities.

More than 200 Paralympians, staged at the University of East London campus, are prepared to compete in 20 sporting events, including wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing, wheelchair rugby, swimming, shooting and sailing as they serve as American ambassadors for their respective sports.

"It's an amazing experience," said Navy Lt. Bradley Snyder, a member of the 2012 U.S. Paralympic swimming team. "It's a lot of things happening at once. It can be a little overwhelming. You come to processing and they hand you $3,000 worth of apparel and things like that. It's a lot happening at once."

Snyder, slated to swim in seven events, compared the excitement of competing in front of large crowds with his previous experience as a competitor.

"The swimming venue, I think, holds 18,000 people, so everyone's running through their heads, 'What's it going to be like to swim in front of 18,000 people?'" he said. "I was a collegiate athlete for four years [and] I swam for 12 years. I think the largest crowd I ever swam in front of was in the hundreds. To be able to go out in front of 18,000 people is going to be an amazing experience.

"It's been a challenge, I think, to ... stay focused on what we're trying to stay focused on, and at the same time, utilize the adrenaline rush we're going to have to our advantage." he added.

Michael Prout Jr., of West Springfield, Mass., also a member of the swimming team, will compete in the 100-meter butterfly, backstroke and freestyle, 200-meter individual medley and the 400-meter freestyle.

"For the past two years, I've been living out in Colorado Springs at the Olympic Training Center with the resident team out there," he said. "There's nine of us, actually, that made the Paralympic team this time around from that area. I was out there just training full-time instead of focusing on anything else. I think that is going to help out a lot."

Prout noted even though he's competed in the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece, and in Beijing in 2008, he still feel the excitement of the approaching competition.

"It's been crazy," he said. "We've been training in Germany for the past week and a half, and we just got into the village yesterday. And we've been going back and forth trying to get training in and coming over for all the fitting of apparel.

"Today's been crazy, but it's been a lot of fun," he continued. "And we're getting so much cool stuff that I think we're all pretty overwhelmed with everything still."

The biggest thing, he said, is trying to stay focused and establishing a good routine while helping the rest of the team stay on the same page.

With 227 Paralympians processing through the campus, many needing assistance, it would be nearly impossible without volunteers such as Air Force Staff Sgt. Brandi Campbell to assist the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Campbell, who serves in an orthopedic clinic with the 48th Mission Support Group in Lakenheath, England, had such a strong desire to help that she used leave to augment three days of permissive temporary duty to help with team processing.

"An email went out to everyone to give you an option that you'd be able to choose to help with the Olympics or the Paralympics, or you could do both," she said. "I chose the Paralympics just because they work with our duty section, and to get to work with these people is a blessing.

"They're amazing," she added. "They have to overcome so much that to work with them and hear their stories, get to meet them, get to see their coaches -- I [wouldn't] trade it for anything."

Campbell said she was also excited when she learned the rugby team was from her hometown of Portland, Ore.

Part of the team processing duties, Campbell said, is passing out brand-name apparel and accessories provided by sponsors to the athletes.

"The athletes get 99 items [each]," she said. "I get to see the joy on their face when they get to see everything they get."

Campbell helps the athletes try on the apparel, and said it can take up to 20 attempts for some to get the right fit.

"But to see their face at the end of the day [and] to know that you helped them is perfect," she said.