Wounded Warrior athletes representing the Navy, Army and Air Force demonstrated the healing power of sports with Vice Adm. Dixon Smith, commander, Navy Installations Command, during a 17-mile fun ride that started and ended at the Washington Navy Yard, Oct. 11.

Smith, riding on a tandem bike with Adrian "AJ" Mohammed, served as pilot for the retired Navy petty officer second class. Mohammed's combat injuries left him visually impaired, and cycling has created new challenges and opportunities.

"Being visually impaired means you have to have a lot of faith in the person in front of you," said Mohammed. "For most people, cycling is very independent ... but learning to kind of do the opposite and have somebody else control the bike, pick the pace lines, keep up with you and make sure you're safe back there has been a little unnerving. With practice, I've actually learned to be pretty good at it."

Aside from cycling, Mohammed will try out for track, archery and field at the upcoming Department of Defense Warrior Games, scheduled for June 2017.

"[Navy Wounded Warrior-Safe Harbor] definitely turned me around and I hope that other veterans who are in the position I was, either freshly injured or just going through the therapy trying to find something to do after the war, that it makes them more positive and shows them something worthwhile to live for," said Mohammed.

Retired Army Sgt. Stefan Leroy also participated in the fun ride. Leroy began hand cycling three months after leaving the hospital as a double amputee. Ride 2 Recovery, a cycling program at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, introduced Leroy to adaptive sports. It was a way to keep him active since he was unable to walk on his prosthetics at the time. He started with hand cycling and was eventually fitted with cycling legs and an upright bike, which he now rides.

Leroy runs, swims, plays volleyball, participates in field events, and competes in triathlons.

"I might be helping get more amputees and more people on the Army side, and definitely the [other services], and encouraging them to participate," Leroy said. "I was definitely mentored over the past two years by those who went before me and set the way, and showed that it can be done."

Retired Air Force Tech. Sgt. Aimi Mlekoday is also a participant in Ride 2 Recovery and credits adaptive sports with aiding in her post-service transition.

"Adaptive sports have completely changed my life; when I came back from Afghanistan I didn't do so well," Mlekoday said. "It's helped me recover, especially the social part. Cycling is one of the first things that got me out in a group again."

Adaptive sports and reconditioning activities help enable healing in a multitude of ways throughout the recovery and reintegration process -- mentally, emotionally, physically, and most importantly, personally as service members and veterans communicate through their common experiences.

Mlekoday is preparing for a adaptive sports camp next month at Joint Base Andrews to determine what sports she will be able to compete in at the 2017 DoD Warrior Games. She will be joining other athletes at the camp, who are all active participants in their services' adaptive sports programming and will also be competing to participate in the games, which will be hosted by the Navy next June.

The Navy will host the 2017 games in Chicago, marking the first year the Warrior Games will be held entirely outside a military installation or a U.S. Olympic Committee facility. Bringing the Warrior Games to Chicago will increase public exposure of the event and provide new opportunities to showcase the strength, resilience, and dedication of participants.

Warrior Games was created in 2010 as a way to enhance the recovery and rehabilitation of wounded warriors through participation in adaptive sports. The DoD Warrior Games feature five U.S. teams representing the Army, Marine Corps, Navy/Coast Guard, Air Force and the Special Operations Command, as well as a British armed forces team. During the games, athletes compete in eight individual and team sports, including archery, cycling, field, shooting, sitting volleyball, swimming, track, and wheelchair basketball.

"Hitting the road with our wounded warriors was an incredible experience," said Smith. "It was inspiring to hear the role that adaptive athletics has played in our athletes' transition and recovery. To see their athleticism firsthand was inspiring. I invite everyone to join us for the Warrior Games next summer to see for yourselves how motivated these young people are."

For the latest news about the DoD Warrior Games, visit http://warriorgames.dodlive.mil/ and follow Navy Wounded Warrior-Safe Harbor (NWW) on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/navywoundedwarrior/, Twitter @navywounded and Instagram, Navy Wounded Warrior.

Visit http://www.safeharbor.navylive.dodolive.mil/ or call 855-628-9997 to learn more about NWW and the benefits of adaptive sports.

For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from Commander, Navy Installations Command, visit http://www.navy.mil/ or http://www.cnic.navy.mil/.