{"id":83902,"date":"2026-02-11T23:53:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T23:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2026\/02\/11\/this-army-motor-t-operator-is-also-an-olympic-figure-skater\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T12:33:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T12:33:28","slug":"this-army-motor-t-operator-is-also-an-olympic-figure-skater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2026\/02\/11\/this-army-motor-t-operator-is-also-an-olympic-figure-skater\/","title":{"rendered":"This Army Motor T operator is also an Olympic figure skater"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pvt. Spencer Howe aspires to be an Army chaplain someday \u2014 but for now, his day job involves wearing sequins and rhinestones and doing synchronized spin jumps on ice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 29-year-old soldier and Olympic pairs skater currently preparing to compete in the Milan Cortina Games is the first figure skater in the Army\u2019s program that nurtures elite athletic talent, according to the program director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Willie Wilson, director of the World Class Athlete Program, told Military Times in a phone interview from Italy that Howe, who enlisted in October 2024 and graduated boot camp in February 2025 as a Motor Transport Operator, had been excited to join the ranks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe has done a great job of not only representing WCAP, but also representing the Army,\u201d Wilson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/management\/pay-benefits\/mil-money\/2026\/02\/04\/troops-veterans-get-free-streaming-of-extended-olympics-coverage\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/staging.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2163032578.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Troops, veterans get free streaming of extended Olympics coverage<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Those verified through ShopMyExchange.com can get free access to more than 2,500 hours streaming at the Winter Olympics.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WCAP, which dates to 1997, offers athletes from a broad range of disciplines the opportunity to train and compete while benefiting from elite in-house coaching while receiving a military paycheck. For U.S. athletes, who don\u2019t receive any money from the government to compete in the Olympics and typically have to pay out of pocket for equipment, coaching and other needs, this can be a pretty attractive deal. In return, the athletes stay current on typical military training and requirements and serve in addition as an outreach and recruiting branch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey hold clinics, speak to high school and college audiences, talk with athletic teams and make appearances in support of Army recruiting stations,\u201d WCAP says on its website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the Milan Cortina Games, the Army has six WCAP members participating, including Howe and bobsledder Frank Del Duca, who, alongside speedskater Erin Jackson, was selected by fellow athletes to carry the U.S. flag in the Olympic opening ceremonies Feb. 6. The Air Force also sent two members of its WCAP to the Games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Howe, who has skated with partner Emily Chan since 2019, narrowly made it to the Olympics following a disappointing eighth-place finish in the short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in January. They squeaked into a qualifying position after finishing third in the free skate program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe roller coaster of the trials really opened my eyes,\u201d Howe, who like other athletes is under a media blackout until the conclusion of the Olympics, said in an Army release. \u201cLooking back at how the competition unfolded and how we were ultimately named to the team, we\u2019re grateful and honored. Now we want to do our best representing the Army and the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This season, he and Chan are skating to the Italian \u201cCaruso,\u201d performed by Josh Groban, in their short program, and \u201cUnchained Melody\u201d from \u201cGhost: The Musical\u201d in their free skate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an <a href=\"https:\/\/usfigureskating.org\/news\/2025\/11\/5\/features-spencer-howe-serving-his-country-while-chasing-skating-dreams.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/usfigureskating.org\/news\/2025\/11\/5\/features-spencer-howe-serving-his-country-while-chasing-skating-dreams.aspx\">interview<\/a> with U.S. Figure Skating last November, Howe acknowledged that taking time out to complete Army Basic Training and follow-on job requirements had come with its challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEven though I learned how to be an 88M, my current duty is to maintain a high level of military standard and a high level of athletic standard as they both now coincide with each other,\u201d he said in the interview. \u201cEvery day I check in remotely with my platoon sergeant, and I take on each training day as an opportunity to fulfill my duties as that soldier-athlete.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When he finally returned to training last June, he said, he came with an additional set of skills \u2014 beyond those required to operate and maintain the vehicles in the Army\u2019s motor pool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI started looking at skating from a soldier\u2019s perspective and not just an athlete. Taking on the responsibility to compete at the highest level \u2014 not just for Team USA but also for the Army \u2014 is a different level of commitment,&#8221; he said. \u201cWorking with my partner Emily every day isn\u2019t just a job; it feels like a duty. Approaching training with that mindset has changed how I work and helped me excel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Army releases, Howe plans to join the Chaplain Candidate Program after finishing his undergraduate degree, begun last year. Eventually, he said, he plans to earn his Master of Divinity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wilson, who is attending his eighth Olympics since joining the program in 2007, said Army Secretary Dan Driscoll had already visited the Games to encourage and congratulate the athletes. While the competitors will return to the U.S. at different times following their events, Wilson said the camaraderie and team spirit was strong and would be capped off with a get-together at WCAP headquarters in Colorado Springs later this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While WCAP wants its athletes to do as well as they can, it\u2019s a lower-pressure environment than most sports sponsorship programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf your best today is an Olympic gold medal, we\u2019re pretty excited about that,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cBut if your best turns out to be a sixth-place performance, we\u2019re honored that you\u2019re here and proud of you, and we would consider that success within the program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The pairs skating competition begins Feb. 15.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pvt. Spencer Howe aspires to be an Army chaplain someday \u2014 but for now, his day job involves doing synchronized spin jumps on ice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":110723,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":73,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,73,25,13],"tags":[8532],"coauthors":[3307],"class_list":["post-83902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-military-culture","category-newsletters","category-off-duty","tag-italy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"C3HGOTLL7ZFQXEK752ETPG6OQQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2026\/02\/11\/this-army-motor-t-operator-is-also-an-olympic-figure-skater\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>This Army Motor T operator is also an Olympic figure skater - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pvt. 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