Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      Air Force veteran Master Sgt. D. Reese Hines competes in archery for visually impaired people during the 2016 Department of Defense Warrior Games at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. June 17, 2016. DoD photo by EJ Hersom2016 Warrior Games Archery
                        
                        
                        Medically retired Air Force Master Sgt. Reese Hines competes in archery for visually impaired people during the 2016 Department of Defense Warrior Games at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., June 17, 2016. (Defense Department photo/EJ Hersom)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res
        


        Air Force Master Sgt. Zarah Hartsock helps Air Force 1st Lt. Sarah M. Frankosky line up a shot during an archery competition for the visually impaired at the 2016 Department of Defense Warrior Games at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. June 17, 2016. Sound devices also help the archers aim at the targets. DoD photo by EJ Hersom2016 Warrior Games Archery
                        
                        
                        Air Force Master Sgt. Zarah Hartsock helps Air Force 1st Lt. Sarah M. Frankosky line up a shot during an archery competition for the visually impaired at the 2016 Department of Defense Warrior Games at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., June 17, 2016. Sound devices helped the archers aim at the targets. (Defense Department photo/EJ Hersom)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res

Archers compete in first visual impairment category at Warrior GamesPublished June 20, 2016
                    
                    By Shannon Collins
                    
                    
                    DOD News, Defense Media Activity
            **WEST POINT, N.Y. (AFNS) --**Wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans continue to break personal records and show fans and friends amazing feats and June 17 was no different, as archers competed in the first-ever visual impairment category at the 2016 Department of Defense Warrior Games at the U.S. Military Academy.Aaron Moffett, the Air Force assistant head coach, said officials created the new category to increase the number of people with visual impairments and provide more opportunities for people with any disability at the games.Each athlete is blindfolded to level the playing field and has a stand next to them with a little notch or bolt. “They can hook their bow to that and place the notch hopefully on the same spot on their hand each time on the back of their hand and then that kind of tells them how they line up to the target, and then they’re able to shoot based off of that,” he said.**Side coaches**The athletes also have a spotter or side coach who tells them where they hit the target and what color. Different colors are for different points.Archery competitor Air Force 1st Lt. Sarah Frankosky injured her eyes in a skydiving accident and has double vision as a result. She said she was excited to have teammate Master Sgt. Zarah Hartsock’s help.“She’s very relaxed and being with someone who’s so calm, I knew I wouldn’t get stressed,” Frankosky said of Hartsock. “She’s got amazing eyes. She’s an amazing archer. When I asked her (to help), she said yes, and I was so thrilled. We’d never practiced together before, and we did pretty dang good.”Frankosky earned the silver medal in the category. She said at the trials that she was lucky if she could get an arrow to hit her own target, so she was thrilled with her results.Medically retired Navy veteran Brittany Jordan asked her sister, Tiffany, to be her side coach. “You have to trust the person behind you and that was my sister, who I’m grateful to have,” Jordan said. “You have to believe they’re going to put you in the right spot, and you have to breathe and relax. If you tense up, you’re not going to make it. I felt very confident out there. I didn’t win but it was my first year, and I did my best. I’m very happy with the outcome. I’m going to practice this year, and I’m going for the gold next year.”Jordan is blind in her right eye and has 40 percent vision in her left eye due to her brain swelling a few years ago. She earned bronze in the visual impairment archery category. Her sister said she was proud to be her side coach.“It was amazing; I had to keep her calm. We’re sisters so we fight as much as we can just because that’s what we do, so for us to be able to sit there and be calm for as long as we had to was amazing,” she said. “I was so proud of her. She didn’t lose her cool, and I was just happy to see her finish.”Jordan asked her sister to go up and receive her medal with her. “I was honored,” Tiffany said.Medically retired Air Force Master Sgt. Reese Hines asked his girlfriend and teammate, medically retired Master Sgt. Kyle Burnett to be his side coach.Hines lost his right eye, had damage to his left eye, lost his right index finger, had major reconstruction to his right hand and nerve damage in both arms due to an improvised explosive device blast in Afghanistan in 2011. His challenge was not only the blindfold, but in choosing which arm to shoot with.Hines said he grew up shooting archery for fun with his right hand, but after his injury he shot left-handed and hunted left-handed. “While practicing, I discovered that because my right hand had more sensation than the left, I could feel the tactile site off the stand and do it right-handed,” he said.Burnett said they met on a softball league and compete in all the sports together so they know each other fairly well. They’ve also been dating for nine months. She said Hines had only practiced with the blindfold four times and three of those times were at the Military Academy.“Once we got it going, we got into a groove and we got everything locked down,” she said. “I just did minor adjustments, me not telling him too much or too little information because he can’t see during the competition.”Hines earned the gold medal during the competition.The goal of developing the visual impairment category was to break barriers, Moffett said.“The perception is you have to have sight to be able to do this, and we want to break those barriers,” he said. “We want to show the world that people with any disability can still do whatever they want. We want to break that perception that a person with a visual impairment can’t do an aiming sport. Just make some minor modifications and they’re good to go.“Let’s continue to break barriers and show that people with whatever injury, illness or wounds can do whatever they want. We just have to figure out a way,” he continued.Warrior Games 



Archery 



competition 



medal 



DOD 



wounded warrior

Related Links
        More Warrior Games coverage
            
            2016 Warrior Games Begin
                                
                                The 2016 Department of Defense Warrior Games opening ceremony took place at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, June 15, 2016. Created in 2010, the Warrior Games is an annual adaptive sports competition designed to showcase the resilient spirit of the nation's wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans from all branches of the military. Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                SecAF, CSAF, CMSAF begin Indo-Pacific trip focused on ACE
                    
                    DAF leaders talk budget, reoptimizing the force
                    
                    DAF leaders speak at National Character and Leadership Symposium
                    
                    DAF members recognized during BEYA STEM awards
                    
                    DAF senior enlisted advisors discuss Airmen, Guardians in the fightInnovation
                F-16s arrive to be modified for autonomous testing
                    
                    AFWERX director discusses role of tech startups, quick innovation in Great Power Competition
                    
                    DAF delivers lethality at the speed of data during Project Convergence Capstone 4
                    
                    DAF welcomes industry partners to HQ development program
                    
                    DAF announces Spark Tank 2024 finalistsMAJCOM News
                Safety enterprise announces new mission, vision, goals in 2024 strategic plan
                    
                    Air Combat Command welcomes new commander
                    
                    USAFE-AFAFRICA commander discusses Integrated Air, Missile Defense during Munich Security Conference
                    
                    Flosi to AFMC family: Embrace change, make every day count
                    
                    AMC rises to increasing global tension
 Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil