http://www.theoutdoorwire.com/image_archive/2280473.jpg> U.S. Army 1st Lt. Michal Matthews, Warrior Transition Battalion, Fort Stewart, Ga., retrieves his arrows from the target during the archery competition at the 2016 Department of Defense Warrior Games held at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, June 17. Matthews won the Gold Medal in the compound bow division by edging out the Air Force competitor, 110-109. The DoD Warrior Games, June 15-21, is an adaptive sports competition for wounded, ill and injured service members and Veterans. (Photos: Master Sgt. D. Keith Johnson)

WEST POINT, N.Y. -- The Team Army archers earned two medals at the Department of Defense Warrior Games held at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, June 17.

U.S. Army 1st Lt. Michael Matthews took the Gold Medal in the individual compound bow category, edging out the U.S. Air Force Silver Medal archer, 110-109. The team consisting of Matthews, U.S. Army Veteran Staff Sgt. Matthew Mihacsi, from Sterling, Virginia and U.S. Army Veteran Staff Sgt. Eric Pardo, from North Bergen, New Jersey took the Silver in the team compound category. The United Kingdom recurve archers took all of the individual medals and the team Gold Medal.

Approximately 250 athletes representing the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Special Operations Command and the United Kingdom Armed Forces are competing for gold, silver and bronze in eight sports: archery, cycling, field, sitting volleyball, shooting, swimming, track and wheelchair basketball.

The Warrior Games archery competition is a combined sport with both men and women competing equally. Compound Open, Recurve Open, Team Compound and Team Recurve are the four categories in the competition. Fourteen Team Army Soldiers competed in the four categories.

Matthews, a West Point graduate, from the Warrior Transition Battalion, Fort Stewart, Georgia, has been involved in archery for approximately one year, picking up the sport while participating in adaptive reconditioning at the WTB.

http://www.theoutdoorwire.com/image_archive/2280471.jpg> U.S. Army Veteran Staff Sgt. Erick Acevedo, from Aquadila, Puerto Rico, shoots in the recurve category at the archery competition at the 2016 Department of Defense Warrior Games held at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, June 17. The DoD Warrior Games, June 15-21, is an adaptive sports competition for wounded, ill and injured service members and Veterans.

"I've been involved in shooting sports all of my life and the fundamentals just carried over," Matthews said. "You zone out, get into your bubble and don't let the competition get to you."

U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Allan Armstrong, Fort Hood, Texas, also shot as an individual archer. Halfway through the match, he was unsure of how he was doing.

"I'm fairly new to this," said Armstrong. "If I make it to the finals, that's great. If I don't, I know what I need to work on."

All of the archers credit the adaptive reconditioning program at the Warrior Transition Battalions for getting them into archery.

"Adaptive sports gave me the confidence to recover," said Armstrong. "It takes time to go through this process."

"I like the mentality of adaptive reconditioning and the Warrior Games," said Matthews. "You see a lot of athletes overcoming their injuries or illnesses. They don't quit on themselves."

"I picked shooting archery at adaptive sports at the WTB," said U.S. Army Veteran Staff Sgt. Gregory Quarles, from Ringgold, Georgia. "If there's someone out there that needs it, adaptive sports is a lifesaver. Get out there and do what you got to do. You're not alone."

- Master Sgt. D. Keith Johnson, 316th Sustainment Command