Meet Adaptive Athlete:  Phil Greene

Philip Greene grew up in Cle Elum, Washington, where climbing and competitive cycling fed his hunger for speed and summit - every pedal stroke a bid to hang on for the final 200 m sprint, every pitch a test of nerve. A shattered ankle in April 1999—three weeks after his Naval Academy appointment - earned a grim prognosis: no more running, likely a cane forever. A year of brutal rehab proved the doctor wrong; he entered Annapolis in June 2000, raced with the cycling team, and climbed with the mountaineering club, graduating in 2004 as a Surface Warfare Officer candidate.

Aboard USS Stethem, then USS Cleveland on a 2005–06 West-Pac supporting GWOT, he earned his SWO pin. A summer training accident shredded his shoulder; reconstruction followed in 2007. By then arthritis had crippled the same ankle. He separated from the Navy in November 2007, limb-salvage status for fifteen years - too young, too active for easy fixes. Chronic pain and rejection festered alongside undiagnosed PTSD. Shoulder replacement in 2021 removed all limits but weakness. The ankle finally gave out; elective amputation came December 15, 2023. Wound complications and a surgical hematoma trapped him in pain and immobility until late July 2024 - his darkest stretch, but the spark that forced him to face the PTSD.

Wakesurfing in August 2024, skiing last winter, and the Angel City Games this year reignited the fire. At ATF’s Hyper program, Philip is overhauling his toolbox - technique, programming, and a life built around sport. He’s set ambitious sprint goals through 2026, from training benchmarks to Hartford Nationals, to push past perceived limits and reclaim the thrill of going all-out.