Here's how you know
 **Official websites use .mil** .mil
 **Secure .mil websites use HTTPS** lock () https://


Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 Toggle navigation
            
            
            
            
            National Guard
                        Always Ready Always There
                    National Guard
            
            Search National Guard:
                        Search
                    Search
                        Search National Guard:
                            Search
    Home

    News
    
        Guard News

    Overseas Operations

    State Partnership Program

    News Features

    RSS Feeds

    Press Releases

    Transcripts

    Features
    
        Features by Year

    Posture Statement

    State Partnership Program

    Special Features

    About the Guard
    
        How We Began

    Air National Guard

    Army National Guard    
    
        DEERS Soldier Journey

    Leader Development Program

    History and Heritage

    I am the Guard

    NGB Official March

    Leadership
    
        CNGB

    VCNGB

    SEA

    DANG

    DARNG

    Joint Staff    
    
        J-1

    J-2

    J-3

    J-4

    J-5

    J-6

    J-7

    J-8

    Personal Staff    
    
        Inspector General

    General Counsel

    Public Affairs

    Executive Support Services

    Legislative Liaison

    Special Staff    
    
        National Guard Office of Special Victims' Counsel

    Office of the Provost Marshal

    Office of the Joint Surgeon

    Director of Acquisitions

    Small Business Programs

    Chaplain

    Senior Leader Management Office

    Diversity Equity Inclusion

    Comptroller

    Resources    
        National Defense Strategy Implementation Guidance

    Community Engagement

    FOIA

    Fact Sheets

    Helpful Links

    Image Gallery
    
        News Images

    Graphics

    Historical Paintings

    Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

    Legislative Liaison

    Small Business Programs

    Social Media

    State Websites

    Videos    
    
        Featured Videos

    On Every Front

    2019 Videos

    2020 Videos

    2021 Videos

    Suicide Prevention

    Family Programs

    Environmental

    Trial Defense Service

    Holistic Wellness Challenge

    Contact Us  Home
  News
  Article View
 
 Download
 Details
 Share
 NEWS
 Four New York Army National Guard Soldiers head for Winter Games in Sochi By Eric Durr
                New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs
 LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – Four New York Army National Guard Soldiers will be part of the United States Olympic team at the Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, in February. Sergeants Nicholas Cunningham and Justin Olsen will be part of the United States Olympic Bobsled Team while Sgt. Matthew Mortensen and Staff Sgt. William Tavares are part of the United States Olympic Luge Team. Olsen, a bobsled "pusher," won a gold medal in the sport at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, while Cunningham is a bobsled driver who is ranked 17th in the world. Mortensen, a native of Huntington Station, will compete for Olympic Gold, while Tavares, a Lake Placid resident, who competed in the Olympics himself in 1992 and coached the 2010 American luge team, will coach the 2014 luge team. All four men are part of the United States Army's World Class Athlete Program in which Active Army and Army National Guard Soldiers serve while training as an athlete on a United States Olympic sports team. The Army pays them their military salaries, while allowing them to focus on honing their skills. Of the seven Army athletes who will participate in the games, four are New York National Guard members. Athletes who enlist in the program attend basic training and become qualified in their military skills. National Guard Soldier/Athletes attend unit training drills when not competing. Both the luge and bobsled teams train at the United States Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid. Mortensen, 28, who enlisted in the New York Army National Guard in 2010, is a member of the 1156th Engineer Company based in Kingston. Mortensen secured his spot on the Olympic team when he and fellow Army athlete Sgt. Preston Griffall earned a ninth-place finish in luge doubles at the Luge World Cup stop on Dec. 13, at Utah Olympic Park. He has been a member of the Army's World Class Athlete Program since April 2011. He and Griffall won silver medals at the 2013 Lake Placid World Cup Team Relay race. Mortensen said he was looking forward to representing the United States at the Olympics. "It's unbelievable," Mortensen said. "I get emotional thinking about it. It's been almost 17 years that I've been working toward this point, and for it to finally happen is like a dream come true." Tavares, 50, is an infantryman in Company B, 2nd Battalion 108th Infantry, which is headquartered in Morrisonville. He has served in the New York Army National Guard since 1982. He has been involved in the Army's World Class Athlete program since 1998. Tavares finished ninth at the 1992 Olympic Winter Games as a luge competitor. He coached the U.S. women's bobsled teams at the 1998, 2002 and 2006 Winter Olympics. As a coach for U.S. National Teams since 1997, Tavares has helped lead athletes to five world championships and 70 medals in World Cup competitions. In luge, athletes ride small one or two-person sleds downhill at very fast speeds. Olsen, 26, enlisted in the New York Army National Guard in January 2011 and serves as a personal services specialist in the Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment of the Joint Force Headquarters in Watervliet. He is originally from Wittenburg, Texas. "I already represent my country," Olsen said at the time. "Now I have an opportunity to serve and represent my country at the same time." In 2010 Olsen was one of the three "pushers" on the U.S. four-man bobsled team which took the gold medal that year. Cunningham, 28, enlisted in the New York National Guard in March of 2011 and was trained as a carpentry and masonry specialist in the 1156th Engineer Company, based in Kingston, N.Y. He lives in Lake Placid. A fifth Soldier/athlete heading for the Olympics , Sgt. 1st Class Tuffield Latour, is a member of the Vermont Army National Guard but lives in Schenectady. The 46-year old serves as head coach on the U.S. Olympic Skeleton Team. Skeleton is a sledding sport. A fifth New York Army National Guard Soldier is a part of the U.S. National Luge Team but did not make the Olympic team. Sgt. Emily Sweeney is a 20-year old member of the 206th Military Police Company headquartered in Latham, N.Y., who finished 9th in the 2013 Lake Placid World Cup. She lives in Suffield, Conn. The Army World Class Athlete program was created in 1997 to help Soldier/Athletes excel at their sports. The Soldiers must all successfully complete required military training to participate. The program pays them to train full time and, in return, they host clinics for Soldiers and act as goodwill ambassadors for the Army and the United States at international games. Since the Army's World Class Athlete Program was created, 55 Army, Army Reserve and Army National Guard athletes have won Gold, Silver or Bronze medals at the Olympic Summer or Winter games.
 SHARE
 PRINT
 
 Pennsylvania Army Guardsmen Complete Combat Lifesaver Course
 By Sgt. 1st Class Shane Smith,
  38th Infantry Division Soldiers Conduct Warfighter Exercise
 By Master Sgt. Jeff Lowry,
  Puerto Rico Air National Guard Trains at Red Flag-Alaska
 By 156th Wing
  More
 Pennsylvania Army Guardsmen Complete Combat Lifesaver Course Guard News • 4 hours ago
 38th Infantry Division Soldiers Conduct Warfighter Exercise Guard News • 11 hours ago
 Puerto Rico Air National Guard Trains at Red Flag-Alaska Guard News • 11 hours ago
 Air National Guard Conducts Sentry Savannah Exercise Guard News • yesterday
 Hawaii Air National Guard Hosts Sentry Aloha Joint Exercise Guard News • yesterday
 2024 (196)  2023 (427)  2022 (526)  2021 (697)  2020 (936)  2019 (387)  2018 (323)  2017 (346)  2016 (245)  2015 (356)  2014 (399)  2013 (469)  2012 (556)  2011 (533)  2010 (1071)  2009 (357)  2008 (638)  2007 (295)  2006 (188)
 Home
 Site Map
 Privacy & Security Policy
 Link Disclaimer
 Web Policy
 DOD Information Quality
 DOD Open GovernmentFOIA
 No FEAR Act
 Accessibility/Section 508
 Contact Us
 Army Guard Careers
 Air Guard Careers
 USA.gov
                    
Staying Connected
    XYouTubeFlickrFacebookInstagram
                 
                
                

Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil