JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas -- Wrestling has sharpened Master Sgt. Sherwin Severin’s readiness and resiliency, and it has enabled him to overcome adversity.
Severin, a flight chief with the 90th Missile Security Forces Squadron at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming, recently placed second at 187 pounds in the U.S. Armed Forces Greco-Roman Wrestling Championships at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. He competed for a spot on the U.S. Greco-Roman wrestling team at the World Team Trials in Las Vegas on April 29-30, where he finished
0-2.
Here, Severin talks about what wrestling for the Air Force means to him:
Why compete in wrestling?
Wrestling has been a part of my life since high school. It has taught me the basic recipe for completing tasks, goals and challenges in my professional career and personal life. Also, competing at this level has been something I've always wanted to do. I learned the Air Force allows certain athletes to train and compete for a few weeks on a national and international level, and I decided to take the challenge.
Since competing in wrestling for the Air Force, what have you gained from an athletic, military and personal perspective?
From an athletic perspective, I have gained the physical and mental ability to challenge some of the best wrestlers in the country. I have learned over time what it takes to get your body and mind to perform physically and mentally at whatever challenge or goal a person may be attempting. And throughout my career, wrestling has always kept me physically and mentally capable for any tasks.
This ties into the military perspective that has a lot to do with readiness. Almost every aspect of how we function in the Air Force comes down to our readiness. I've learned being prepared or at least as close to being prepared as you possibly can be gives you the best opportunity to win. Every little aspect of being successful that you can try and test through performance base training, gives you, your flight, squadron, group or wing the best chance at being ready.
Personally, I gained a perspective on why I may fall short on some things or how I perceive setbacks in life. Competing forces you to plan and strategize to help overcome challenges.
What are you bringing back to your duty station by competing in wrestling?
Some of my Airmen get hounded by me about their goals, tasks, challenges in their life or career that they may be facing at the time. I fully believe in always working toward whatever that may be. I would ask some of them what have they done today that benefits their career or personal goals? Competing in wrestling means even when you're not training physically you're doing things like learning technique, watching film or eating healthy. I also try to bring back the understanding that it is critical that they find what drives them -- is it to be a better leader, desk sergeant, or is it school, or to impact other Airmen positively? Whatever it is that drives them, it is important they find what that is and use it toward achieving our flight, unit, wing or Air Force goals.
How is competing in wrestling building your readiness and resiliency with your fellow Wingmen, your duty station and the Air Force as a whole?
Competing at this level forces me to prepare, prepare properly and continuously prepare. Readiness is the result of preparing, and resiliency is the byproduct of having the drive and passion to navigate through the painful parts of preparing. I also believe in contagious leadership. While on the Air Force wrestling team, you sometimes see some successful guys in the room running a little harder or staying a little later. It becomes contagious; others want to do the same thing because they know there is success with that scheme.
My accomplishments both on and off the mat have hopefully allowed me to be a contagious wingman and role model when striving for perfection with readiness, whether it is for overall missile security, combat, inspections or professional and personal goals. In the nuclear enterprise, being always ready is a must. As we are the gorilla in the room for some of our national objectives, it’s difficult to be always ready if you can't accurately navigate through the tough times with resiliency. Wrestling and competing on the national level helps me to bring that to my unit and impact my group, wing, major command and Air Force as a whole toward our goals.
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Editor’s note: Athlete in Focus is a monthly series spotlighting U.S. Air Force athletes.