U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program biathlete U.S. Army Sgt. Jeremy Teela shoots to a ninth-place finish in the Olympic men’s 10-kilometer sprint at Whistler Olympic Park in British Columbia, Canada, Feb. 14, 2010.
U.S. Army photo by Tim Hipps
For more photos, stories and videos, check out the Military Olympians special on Defense.gov, and read here about the soldiers on the U.S. men’s bobsled team.
Sgt. 1st Class Dremiel Byers, left, is scheduled to compete for Team USA at the 2009 World Wrestling Championships.
Words and Photo by Tim Hipps
Special to American Forces Press Service
In the Army’s celebratory Year of the Noncommissioned Officer, Dremiel Byers stands out. Byers, who recently joined the ranks of the senior NCOs with his promotion to sergeant first class, will represent the Army on Team USA at the 2009 World Wrestling Championships.
Byers, a 2002 world champion, has been walking the walk on wrestling mats for the past decade. He reiterated his primary purpose at so many international tournaments, a phrase that has become his personal working mantra: “Get my hand raised, and our song played,” he says.
Read the article on DefenseLINK.
2nd Lt. Steven Ostrander, right, lands a kick against an opponent during the U.S. National Taekwando Championship in Austin, Texas. Ostrander won a gold medal at the event.
By Tim Hipps
FMWRC Public Affairs
Army 2nd Lt. Steven Ostrander struck gold, and Sgts. William Rider and Louis Davis won silver medals at the 2009 U.S. National Taekwondo Championships on July 5.
Ostrander, a U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program martial artist from San Antonio, celebrated a homecoming of sorts by winning his third national crown before family and friends at the Austin Convention Center.
Ostrander’s mother, father, nephew and two best friends since first grade witnessed his dominating performance on the national stage.
“My friends had never seen me fight, and my parents had not seen me fight live, both of them together, since 2001,” Ostrander said. “I’ve been fighting all over the place and it’s hard to get out and see me, so being here in Austin was really a treat.”
Read the full story on the Army MWR Web site
An United States Air Force C-130J Hercules cargo aircraft from the 146th Airlift Wing, California Air National Guard, conducts flare training off the Ventura County coast. The flares are used as tactical infrared countermeasures to confuse and redirect heat-seeking missiles.
(U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Dave Buttner)
Famed Yankees pitcher “Lefty Gomez” once remarked “I’d rather be lucky than good,” but for one Tuskegee Airman, luck and good combined to make him one of the most successful combat pilots of World War II.
During the summer of 1944, 2nd Lt. Clarence D. “Lucky” Lester was flying the P-51 Mustang over the skies of Italy’s Po Valley providing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers with cover support on their way to attack airfields in southern Germany.
Lester was assigned to the 100th Fighter Squadron, a part of the 332nd Fighter Group, and had earned the nickname “Lucky” “because of all the tight situations from which I had escaped without a scratch or even a bullet hole in my aircraft.”
Read the story of a flight that helped Lester earn his nickname here.
The only African-American ace of World War II, and a former Tuskegee Airman, went on to have a career in the Air Force, as well as success in the business world.
Lee A. Archer joined the Army in 1941 with high hopes of becoming a pilot, but was initially denied because of his race. When the Army’s policy changed about a year later, Archer was accepted to the training program for black aviators at the Tuskegee Army Airfield in Alabama.
Archer is best known for a day in late 1944 when he was involved in a series of dogfights over German-occupied Hungary. Flying a P-51 Mustang fighter, Archer shot down three German fighters. He would go on to add two more German fighters to his credit to become the first and only African-American ace of the war.
As a civilian, Archer enjoyed even greater success, serving as vice president for urban affairs with General Foods, as CEO of North Street Capital Corp. and chairman of Hudson Commercial Corp. He also served on the board of directors of Beatrice International Foods and the Institute for American Business.
Read the rest of his story here.
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