Fort Carson athletes under new command

Captain Scott M. Christie resigned his command of the Army’s World Class Athlete Program at Fort Carson on Wednesday after three years at the post.

Under his leadership, athletes in the program won a total of 10 medals at all competitions – including two soldiers medaling at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

However, for the Captain Christie, it’s not about the hardware.

“In this unit you have a whole [group] of superstars,” said Capt. Christie. “Each and every one of them is special and it makes coming to work every day a breeze.”

Captain Christie will transition to his new role as the Army’s liaison with the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

He will the pass the torch to Captain Matthew J. Hickey.

The weather didn’t necessarily create a warm welcome for Captain Hickey, but for a man who has climbed Denali (formerly Mt. Mckinley) in just army gear – this was nothing!

As Captain Hickey assumes command, he noted how closely sports and service are related.

“There are a lot of similarities between being a soldier and being a part of a team,” said Capt. Hickey. “It comes pretty naturally to these guys to be soldier-athletes, and fortunately it comes pretty naturally to me to be commanding an organization comprised of people like that.”

Captain Hickey takes over a WCAP program that includes two soldiers who have already qualified for Rio De Janeiro’s 2016 Summer Olympics.