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Three Army National Guard Soldiers are set complete at the 2026 Winter Olympics now underway in Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
Vermont Army Guard Staff Sgt. Deedra Irwin (pictured, middle in bottom row), Utah Army Guard Sgt. Ben Loomis (pictured, top-left in top row) and New Hampshire Army Guard Spc. Sean Doherty (pictured, second-from-right in bottom row) are all on orders as part of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program.
WCAP enables top-ranked Soldier-athletes to train and perform at the international level while also serving their nation in the military.
Eleven coaches and athletes with WCAP are at the Winter Games.
Irwin and Doherty competed in the biathlon, which merges cross-country skiing and rifle marksmanship, while Loomis is in the Nordic combined, which includes cross-country skiing and ski jumping.
Irwin placed seventh — the highest U.S. finish in biathlon history — in the women’s 15-kilometer individual biathlon at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. She finished in 44 minutes, 44.1 seconds and hit 19 of 20 targets. Biathletes incur a penalty for every missed target. Either extra time is added or they must ski a penalty loop for each miss.
She has a chance to compete in as many as six events — the mixed relay, individual, sprint, pursuit, women’s relay and mass start.
“If you look at my last Olympics, I was unranked, and if I had shot 20 of 20, I would have medaled,” Irwin said.
Irwin, whose military occupation specialty is 42A, human resource specialist, enlisted in 2019 and competed for the National Guard Biathlon Team in the 2022 Games before joining WCAP in 2023.
While she speaks fondly about her time with the National Guard Biathlon Team, the consistency of support from WCAP has been a difference-maker in her athletic and military career.
“With WCAP, I have full-time orders, full-time benefits and direct access to resources such as nutritional support,” Irwin said. “Being both a platoon sergeant and an athlete have pushed me to learn a lot, from managing my time, mentoring teammates, handling temporary-duty paperwork and helping athletes travel internationally.”
Doherty joins an elite club by qualifying for his fourth Olympic team. He competed in the 2014 Sochi Olympics as an 18-year-old and enlisted in in 2018, where he’s a 12W, carpentry and masonry specialist.
Now 30, he said he still tries to keep that 18-year-old mindset.
“That attitude was powerful and fun, and I try to keep some of that alive,” said Doherty, who joined WCAP after the 2022 Beijing Games. “I enjoy talking with younger teammates and sharing experiences.”
Doherty also could compete in six events.
Loomis is in his third Olympics, enlisted in 2019 with the sole intention of joining WCAP, but his attitude and desire to serve has changed significantly.
“It has been such as positive experience — the National Guard, WCAP and the Army as a whole,” said Loomis, a motor transport operator. “Now I want to stay in after my athletic career, maybe even for a full career. My reasons for joining and my reasons for staying are completely different now.”
He said his athletic training carries over to his military duties.
“Being an athlete and a Soldier go hand in hand,” Loomis said. “What I’ve learned in the military has helped my athletic career, and my athletic background has helped me as a Soldier.
“WCAP provides incredible resources — nutrition, mental health support, travel funding and a full team behind us. These sports can be financially difficult, so WCAP removes a lot of that burden and allows me to focus on competing while continuing my military career.”
—By Steve Warns,
U.S. Army IMCOM Public and Congressional Affairs
