Instructor back from Warrior Games

STARKVILLE, Miss. - Air Force Captain Hunter Barnhill returned from the 2018 Department of Defense Warrior Games with three medals. As he entered the Golden Triangle Regional Airport on June 10, he was met with applause and signs welcoming him back to Mississippi. Barnhill was among the 300 wounded, ill, and injured service members and veterans who participated in the games. “I came away with a little hardware … I can say I had a little success,” Barnhill laughed, showing off his three medals – two bronze and a silver for indoor rowing events and shooting. Barnhill works as a 37th Flying Training Squadron instructor at Columbus AFB, Miss. The squadron conducts primary flight training in the T-6 Texan II. Barnhill’s three medals helped Air Force come out on top in the overall medal count with 166, Navy was second with 101, and Army third with 99. The airman had suffered a seizure as the result of a brain tumor in 2017, and shortly after surgery at UAB Hospital in Birmingham, Ala., began to suffer from post-operative Supplementary Motor Area Syndrome (SMA). The condition rendered Barnhill paralyzed on his right side and unable to speak. It would then take three months of physical and speech therapy to regain his abilities to walk, run and speak. Col. Doug Gosney, commander of the 14th Flying Training Wing at CAFB, was among those welcoming Barnhill home. He told the Starkville Daily News that he hopes Barnhill’s success will serve as an inspiration to other personnel in similar situations. The 37th FTS is part of the 14th Flying Training Squadron. (Source: Starkville Daily News 06/11/18)