GRENADA, Miss., Aug. 10, 2010 – Faced with a long recovery and the reality that he might never run, surf or return to his Special Forces team, Army Staff Sgt. Andre Murnane made the decision last year to have his right leg amputated below the knee after it was shattered by a roadside bomb that detonated in eastern Afghanistan.

“My dreams and ambitions didn’t end that day. It simply started a new chapter,” the Maryland National Guard soldier said.

And a new breakthrough.

Murnane, 28, of Salisbury, Md., entered Green Beret lore this month when he became the first Army National Guard Special Forces soldier with a prosthetic leg to jump out of an aircraft. Army doctors cleared him to jump in June.

While several Special Forces soldiers with prosthetics have completed airborne operations, Murnane is the first National Guardsman to do so.

Murnane admitted he felt nervous about the historic jump that took place here Aug. 1. And he was a bit worried about the prosthetic leg shifting from the opening shock of the parachute and how it would hold up when he landed. (continue reading…)

WHISTLER, British Columbia, Feb. 26, 2010 – Army National Guard Outstanding Athlete Program bobsled pilot Sgt. Shauna Rohbock teamed with Michelle Rzepka to finish sixth in the Olympic women’s bobsled event Feb. 24 at the Whistler Sliding Centre.

Rohbock, of Park City, Utah, finished 1.78 seconds off the winning pace at the treacherous, 16-turn venue with a four-run time of 3 minutes, 34.06 seconds in USA 1. Canadians Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse broke the track record in their first three heats en route to winning the gold medal in 3:32.28. Helen Upperton and Shelly-Ann Brown took the silver aboard Canada 2 with a time of 3:33.13.

Erin Pac, 29, of Farmington, Conn., and Elana Meyers, 25, of Douglasville, Ga., claimed the bronze with a time of 3:33.40 in the USA 2 sled.
Sgt. Shauna Rohbock teamed with Michelle Rzepka to finish sixth in the Olympic women’s bobsled event.

“It wasn’t the Olympics that I dreamed of for four years, but the U.S. got a medal today, and that’s amazing,” said Rohbock, a silver medalist at the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin, Italy. “That’s awesome. That’s all I want to see is the U.S. on that medal stand. I didn’t drive the four runs to be on the medal stand and Erin did, so she deserves it. I didn’t put together the runs to be on the podium anyway.”

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Feb 11 – I love the Olympics, Summer or Winter makes no difference to me. The pomp and grandeur of the opening and closing ceremonies is always worth the time wasted frying your brain cells in front of the tube. Teams from all over the world gather for one week of all out, blood sweat and tears, leave nothing behind competition, awesome. This week the XXI Olympic Winter Games will be held in British Columbia, Canada from Feb. 12th -28th. That’s west coast Canada, so we will actually get to see some TV coverage at a reasonable time.

Sgt. Jeremy Teela, a bi-athlete with the Army’s World Class Athlete Program, practices prone shooting Oct. 21, 2009 at Soldier Hollow, Utah, in preparation for the XXI Olympic Winter Games Feb. 12-28 in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. U.S. Army photo by Tim Hipps

I like all the events but especially the individual events. With all the different camera angles available the crazy fast events like luge, 2 man bobsled and downhill (girls do that one too) are a real thrill ride. But one of the sport that you hardly ever get to see, unless the US has a vested interest, is the biathlon.  So when I heard that Army Sgt. Jeremy Teela a three-time Olympic athlete was returning with his sights set on becoming the first U.S. bi-athlete ever to win an Olympic medal I was stoked. (continue reading…)