VA Assistant Secretary Dr. Tommy Sowers will be in San Diego to observe adaptive sports and rehabilitaton and meet with disabled veterans the U.S. Paralympic athletes at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, 2800 Olympic Parkway in Chula Vista from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 21.

Recently appointed Assistant Secretary for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Dr. Tommy Sowers, will be in San Diego Friday, Sept. 21, for the final day of the 5th Annual National Veterans Summer Sports Clinic. The week-long Clinic is hosting more than 100 disabled military Veterans from across the country who have a variety of medical conditions ranging from traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury, to visual impairments and loss of limb(s) incurred in the last six years. The primary purpose for the Clinic is to provide early intervention for Veterans battling back from injury by not only strengthening their bodies but overcoming and improving their overall being and self-worth through adaptive sports activities. These Veterans are learning adaptive methods for activities including surfing, sailing, cycling, kayaking, track and field, and also training with U.S. Paralympic athletes at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista. Dr. Sowers will be at the Olympic Training Center to see these rehabilitative adaptive sports first-hand and visit with the participants and Paralympic athletes, and will present medals at closing ceremonies that evening.

Dr. Sowers, 36, is Army Special Forces combat Veteran with 11 years in uniform. He led a combat engineering team in the Kosovo campaign, served two tours in Iraq as a U.S. Army Green Beret, taught three years at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and received a doctorate in government from the London School of Economics. In his new duties as a VA assistant secretary, Sowers oversees various programs from public affairs, media relations and intergovernmental affairs to tribal relations, homeless programs, outreach, consumer affairs and six national rehabilitative events, including the National Veterans Summer Sports Clinic.

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