50 AF Wounded Warriors vie for a spot on annual Warrior Games Team Published Feb. 26, 2014 By Janis El Shabazz Air Force Personnel Center Public Affairs JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas -- Fifty Air Force wounded warriors from around the nation are participating in an introductory adapted sports camp at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., the games began Feb. 24 and will continue through the 28th. The camp offered by the Air Force Wounded Warrior Adaptive Sports Program, is the first of two introductory camps being held in 2014, as a qualifying events for the annual Warrior Games team to be held in September at the Air Force Academy and Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Adaptive athletic reconditioning - athletic activities that are modified to meet the abilities of injured or ill individuals - are reported to be essential to the recuperation of wounded warriors. "The adaptive camps introduce the Airmen to adaptive sports, such as cycling; seated volleyball; swimming; track and field; air rifle and pistol shooting and wheelchair basketball, as early in the healing process as possible to get them to focus on their abilities and not their disabilities," explained Steve Otero, Air Force Wounded Warrior Program communications and marketing coordinator." Otero said the goal of the introductory adapted sports camps is not to necessarily identify the most skilled athletes, but rather to introduce them to the healing potential that adaptive sports can provide. Adaptive athletic reconditioning has proven to have positive effects on recovering service member's physical and emotional well-being, improve employment opportunities and present fewer secondary medical conditions. "Fitness and teamwork are a way of life in the military," said Otero. "Adaptive athletic reconditioning helps wounded warriors build strength and endurance while they draw inspiration from teammates who don't just sympathize - they can truly empathize because many of them are going through the same recovery and rehabilitation challenges. For more information on the wounded warrior program, visit www.woundedwarrior.af.mil