The 2026 Winter Olympics are now underway in Italy, with more than 230 Americans on Team USA. And a sizeable number of those athletes and coaches are active-duty military.
The U.S. military regularly sends members to both the Summer and Winter Olympics. This year the military contingent in Team USA is competing from everything from figure skating to bobsled. This year it’s just Army soldiers and Air Force airmen going to the competition in Italy, with the Army providing the largest number of military athletes. Troops are heavily competing in the bobsled and biathlon events, although the active-duty athletes are taking part in a wide array of sports.
Army Sgt. Frank Del Duca had the honor of being one of Team USA’s two flag bearers this year, waving the American flag at the opening ceremony on Friday, Feb. 6. is back for his second Olympics, having competed in Beijing four years ago. He is competing in both the two-man and four-man bobsled. He enlisted in the Army in 2019. Spc. Azaria Hill is a part of a two-women bobsled team. Both of her parents are Olympic medalists themselves. She joined the Army in 2024.
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Spc. Sean Doherty with the Vermont National Guard is taking part in the biathlon competition. He is a veteran Olympic athlete, having first taken part in the games in 2014 in Sochi, Russia, before joining the military in 2018. Staff Sgt. Deedra Irwin is in her second Olympic Games, having participating in Beijing in 2022. She is competing in the women’s biathlon, mixing skiing and shooting. She joined the military in 2019.
Pvt. Spencer Howe joined the Army in 2025, after having been a figure skater for years. He’s the first figure skater to be a part of the Army World Class Athlete Program, according to the military. He also is the first military athlete to compete in the games so far, with pairs figure skating events happening over the opening weekend. Sgt. Ben Loomis of the Utah National Guard is in his third Olympics, having participated in Pyeongchang and Beijing. He is taking part in Nordic Combined, a mix of cross-country skiing and ski jumping.
Two other soldiers, Cpl. Hakeem Abdul-Saboor and Spc. Dana Kellogg, were listed as alternates for Team USA in bobsled and luge doubles, according to the Army.
Meanwhile three soldiers are serving as coaches for the team. Lt. Col. Garrett Hines, Lt. Col. Chris Fogt and Sgt. 1st Class Shauna Rohbock are all serving as bobsled coaches, while Hines is also a skeleton coach.
On the Air Force side of the military contingent, Staff Sgt. Kelly Curtis is competing in her second Olympic Games, having taken home silver and bronze medals four years ago in Beijing while competing in skeleton — where athletes lie face down on a small sled that speeds down an icy track. Senior Airman Jasmine Jones is the brakewoman in a two-women bobsled crew. Last month in Switzerland she took home a gold medal in the St. Moritz World Cup along with her Olympic teammate Kaillie Armbruster-Humphries. Jones joined the military in 2023.
Military members and veterans can watch the games through the military’s Exchange service. The Winter Olympic Games run through Feb. 22.
