U.S. Army soldier competes at Paralympics after IED blast injury

FORT MOORE, Ga. ( WRBL ) — When Kevin Nguyen first arrived at then-Fort Benning for basic training in 2011, he never planned on his career going the way it did.

Now a staff sergeant, he’s also a two-time Paralympian. He’s also made the post, now called Fort Moore, home.

“When I originally joined, I was an I was an infantryman,” Nguyen said. “I wanted to serve my country.”

He completed Army basic training and AIT (Advanced Individual Training) at Fort Benning, before moving on to his first duty station at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

There, he was assigned to the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry. Nguyen deployed to Afghanistan with his unit in 2012.

“It was three months into my tour when we were on a dismounted foot patrol,” Nguyen remembered. “I stepped on an IED.”

The incident destroyed skin, muscles, tendons and nerves in then-20-year-old Nguyen’s foot. Rather than keep the foot and be restricted to a wheelchair and pain for the rest of his life, the soldier opted for selective amputation.

“It took me a year and nine months to finally get back up on my feet,” Nguyen said. He wasn’t ready to leave his Army career, either.

The soldier asked to be recertified in his MOS and passed various tests set out by the Army.

“After that, I went looking for a home,” said Nguyen.

He eventually found that home with the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit in 2014, after being asked to attend practices with the team. He began officially competing with the unit in 2015 and made his Paralympic debut at the Tokyo Games in 2021.

Nguyen competed in R6 50-meter rifle mixed prone and R3 10-meter mixed air rifle. At the Paris 2024 Games, he returned to the same events, placing 15th in the former and 27th in the latter.

“It felt very easy. It felt very effortless … It was by far the best performance I’ve shot to date,” said Nguyen about his performance at the Paris Games. “I just wish that, you know, my performance reflected a little bit in my score because I just it just felt really good to shoot.”

According to Nguyen’s coach and former teammate 1st Sgt. Hank Gray, competing at the Paralympic level is a huge accomplishment. He said Nguyen has achieved that title through hard work and perseverance in a difficult field of competitors.

“To win at the Olympic and Paralympic and international level … It’s hard,” Gray said. “To some degree it might be more [difficult] because of the additional health issues you may have to deal with.”

Following the Paralympics, Nguyen is looking forward to taking a new path in his career after nine years competing with the Marksmanship Unit. He is transitioning into a shooting instructor role with the unit to help train soldiers across the Army.

Nguyen said, “I have seven years left in my military career and I just – I wanted to go back and help make a difference.”

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