Army coach Gen. Mark Milley and Under Secretary of the Army Patrick Murphy talk to reporters after a hockey game against Navyat Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Army coach Gen. Mark Milley and Under Secretary of the Army Patrick Murphy talk to reporters after a hockey game against Navyat Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Army team coach Gen. Mark Milley praises his goalie, Air Force Capt. Lindsey Colburn, after a hockey game against a Navy team at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. Colburn is commander of the Military Personnel Flight at Joint Base Anacostia Bolling. In the background is Under Secretary of the Army Patrick Murphy. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Among the Army players in a hockey game at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016 was Joe Bowser, who was wounded in Iraq in 2004 and later lost a leg as a result of his injuries. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Navy players pose for a team photo after a hockey game at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Army players pose for a team photo after a hockey game at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Army and Navy players pose for a group photo after a hockey game at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Army coach Gen. Mark Milley lines up his players for a team photo after a hockey game at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Army and Navy players, including Under Secretary of the Army Patrick Murphy (3), shake hands after a hockey game at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
The Army bench, during a hockey game against Navy at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Army coach Gen. Mark Milley shouts instructions to his players during a hockey game against Navy at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
The Navy bench, during a hockey game against Army at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Hockey action between Army and Navy teams at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Navy players celebrate a goal during a hockey game against an Army team at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Hockey action between Army and Navy teams at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Hockey action between Army and Navy teams at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Hockey action between Army and Navy teams at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Hockey action between Army and Navy teams at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Hockey action between Army and Navy teams at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Army's defense keeps Navy's Maryann McGuire (12) from sweeping the puck past goalie Lindsey Colburn during a hockey game against a Navy team at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Hockey action between Army and Navy teams at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Hockey action between Army and Navy teams at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Hockey action between Army and Navy teams at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Hockey action between Army and Navy teams at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Hockey action between Army and Navy teams at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Hockey action between Army and Navy teams at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Hockey action between Army and Navy teams at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Hockey action between Army and Navy teams at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Hockey action between Army and Navy teams at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Hockey action between Army and Navy teams at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
The Navy bench, during a hockey game against Army at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Army coach Gen. Mark Milley watches from the bench as his team takes on Navy in a hockey game at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
Army players loosen up before a hockey game against a Navy team at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., Dec. 5, 2016. (Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley has made a career of leading troops in the field, and Monday night he had a chance to lead them on the ice.
As part of the buildup to Saturday's Army-Navy football game at Baltimore, Milley coached an Army team made up of players representing the Army and Air Force to a 5-3 hockey win over a Navy team that featured representatives of the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard at Washington's Verizon Center.
"It was an honor to get chosen to play out here tonight, everything felt good," said Army player Corbin Bork, a member of the Honor Guard at Fort Myer, Va., who scored two goals in the game. "It was awesome. I had a great time."
Army's lineup also included Under Secretary of the Army Patrick Murphy. "It's a great way to start, 'Beat Navy' week by getting a win for the Army team," Murphy said. "It was great coaching, great leadership and great teamwork."
"I actually got wounded and had (my leg) cut off so I could play hockey," said Joe Bowser, an Army veteran who was wounded while serving in Camp Anaconda, near Balad, Iraq in 2004 and did, indeed, opt for amputation in face if the strong possibility that he would never be able to again take part in his favorite sport on a shattered leg. "It was awesome (playing tonight). Absolutely awesome."
Milley, who won two varsity letters in hockey at Princeton University in the late 1970s, cited the play of Army goalie Lindsey Colburn as a key to the win. Colburn, an Air Force captain, is commander of the Military Personnel Flight at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington.
