Soldiers participate in water polo, an adaptive sports event. (Photo by Linda Steil)
ment of public works, and morale,
welfare, and recreation office. This
situation requires independent coordination by the cadre and staff
with their supporting garrison
organizations.
Adaptive Sports and Conditioning
The WTB–E strives to find opportunities in Europe to provide
for diverse and challenging adaptive sports and conditioning opportunities—games and exercises tailored to our Soldiers. These
activities include wheelchair basketball, seated volleyball, and inner tube water polo. The benefits
of these activities for our Soldiers
cannot be overstated; they are critical to their rehabilitation.
The WTB–E holds a “Commander’s Cup” event twice per year
to encourage competition, provide
10 Army Sustainment
goals, and build pride and esprit de
corps. The battalion has also qualified two or three Soldiers annually for the Army’s Warrior Games
team in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and WTB–E competitors have
earned medals in several events.
CONUS WTUs have many organizations that support these types
of activities. The same is not true
in Europe. The WTB–E relies on a
small number of organizations that
regularly offer to support events.
These include the American Red
Cross, the United Service Organization, and the Wounded Warrior
Project (WWP).
The WWP is the only nongovernmental service member charity
to open an office in Europe. Its
contributions to adaptive sports
and conditioning as well as computer training and other career
development opportunities for our
Soldiers are invaluable.
One notable event is the annual
WWP Soldier Ride, a weeklong
event normally held in Hambachtal,
Germany, in the summer. The
WWP fits participating Soldiers
with bicycles, including recumbent
and hand crank bikes for those unable to ride standard bicycles, and
conducts progressively longer daily
rides culminating in a community
ride with the Soldiers. More than
600 people joined the Soldiers for
the 2013 community ride.
WWP makes the event available to wounded Soldiers from all
the NATO countries. In 2013, 40
soldiers from Estonia, Germany,
Georgia, Latvia, Norway, Poland,
Romania, and Spain participated
in the event with the 100 Soldiers
from the WTB–E.