Brig. Gen. Gary H. Cheek (second from right), commanding general, Warrior Transition Command and the Assistant Surgeon General of Warrior Care and Transition, plays wheelchair basketball with wounded Soldiers, Marines, and a couple Walter Reed occupational therapists during a March 4 game in Karen Wagner Sports Center at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Cheek played for more than an hour after warming up and learning how to maneuver the wheelchair in order to have a better understanding of what the warriors face when playing adaptive sports.
Of the approximately 9,000 wounded, ill, and injured U.S. Soldiers in country and around the world, 40 percent sustain injuries while in theater, 20 percent are mobilization or demobilization injuries mostly in the reserve component, and the rest are wounded or ill from things in everyday life.
‘‘They’ve made a commitment, and we’ve made a commitment to help them,” Cheek said during a December 2009 interview.
Warriors are also preparing for the inaugural Warriors Games scheduled to be held at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., May 10-14.
Editor’s note: Follow Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Twitter at www.twitter.com⁄WalterReedArmy.
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