The Department of Defense (DoD) Warrior Games 2017 website dedicated to the annual DoD Warrior Games is now up and running.

Hosted by the Department of the Navy, the Games will be held June 30-July 8, 2017, in partnership with the city of Chicago.

"We're very excited to partner with the city of Chicago to host the DoD Warrior Games," said Commander, Navy Installations Command, Vice Adm. Dixon Smith. "Having the website available to inform the public about the Games will help increase awareness. We encourage everyone to mark their calendars to attend to the Games in support of our wounded warrior athletes."

Smith added this is the first time the Navy has hosted the Games and the first time for the Games to be held in a public venue since the DoD became involved in hosting the Games in 2010.

The DoD Warrior Games event was created in 2010 as a way to enhance the recovery and rehabilitation of wounded warriors and to expose them to adaptive sports.

Each year the Games feature five U.S. teams representing each branch of the U.S. Armed Forces and Special Operations Command. Teams compete in eight sports including archery, cycling, track and field, sitting volleyball, shooting, swimming, and wheelchair basketball.

The Warrior Games are designed to introduce injured service members and post-9/11 veterans to Paralympic sport competition and to encourage them to stay physically active when they return to their local communities following the event. The Warrior Games serve as a culminating event for the armed forces adaptive sports program, which promotes camaraderie and the health and welfare of recovering service members and veterans. It also offers another means of recognizing and honoring the service and sacrifices made by of our nation's wounded warriors.

For more information about the 2017 DoD Warrior Games, visit the new website at www.dodwarriorgames.com.

For more information about the Warrior Care program and the DoD's adaptive sports program, go to http://warriorcare.dodlive.mil/.