Courtesy Photo | (Photo courtesy of Robyn Womack) Staff Sgt Jared Babinski at swim practice at the Fort...... read more read more
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FALLS CHURCH, Va.- Army Staff Sgt Jared Babinski is no stranger to the Fort Campbell Soldier Recovery Unit. “I was thrown from a truck during a deployment in the Middle East during COVID and broke my back in 2020. I returned to duty after recovering at the Fort Campbell SRU. Then, last year, I was injured on a deployment carrying down our weapons rack out of our vault and tore my tendon in my left hand and then did nerve damage through my left arm into my shoulder, my back, and on my C7 and C6,” said Babinski a Transportation Management Coordinator.
Babinski is in his 17th year of serving in the U.S. Army. He says he’s thankful the Army Recovery Care Program exists today to help Soldiers return to duty. Babinski wants to remain part of the lethality of the force he’s invested so much of his life in. “I want to do more than 20 years. I want to return to the force, which is very important. I always go to physical and occupational therapy with that in mind.”
Beyond the physical and occupational therapy, Babinski has turned to adaptive sports to help recover and return to the game. He admits most sports were foreign to him until he got to the SRU. “I've never played sports in high school. I was a band geek, so I was a late bloomer, but I've always been involved with water, so for the upcoming Army Trials, I'll be there for swimming, and I’m going to do some strength stuff, so you'll probably see me in the weightlifting competition. I’ve been working on my rowing too,” said Babinski, who found healing through adaptive sports and now wants to be on Team Army for the 2025 Warrior Games in Colorado Springs this July.
He's looking at this year’s Army Trials, April 1-10th at Fort Bliss, Texas, as a chance to show how he’s progressed in his recovery. “I'm going to be there to have fun and bring my will and smile. I will be around people who want to be there, work as a team, do better, ultimately get their lives back, and have fulfillment,” said the Michigan native.
Having recuperated twice in an SRU, Babinski shares wisdom with fellow Soldiers who haven’t experienced one. “It's OK to ask for help when you're hurt or injured. The programs, educational benefits, and other events at the SRU will give you the tools and hopefully give you the strength to come out of that downward spiral and get you back to where you're either returning to the force like I'm looking to do or essentially med board and start your new life.”
Babinski says being at Army Trials is about more than just him. “I'm there to represent Fort Campbell, the 101st, and my coaches! All of us who will be there competing have many reasons to be looking up.”
The Soldier Recovery Unit helps eligible Soldiers with complex wounds, illnesses or injuries to recover and return to the fighting force or to transition to veteran status with dignity and respect.
| Date Taken: | 03.21.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 03.24.2025 09:28 |
| Story ID: | 493421 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 14 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Getting back to duty is essential for Soldier athlete, by MaryTherese Griffin, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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