RN Recovery Engagement Wo in Portsmouth

The Recovery and Resilience Margins (RRM) HQ have committed to support deployment of a team of 12 or more serving personnel to both the US Navy (USN) and US Marine Corps (USMC) Wounded Warrior (WW) trials held annually and on a bi-annual basis, the WW Games at the invitation of the US Department of Defence (DoD). In addition, it is the direction of Dir P&T to increase the number of serving RN personnel in the Invictus Games (IG) which is held bi-annually (in alternate years to UK participation in the WW Games). There are also several invitations for the UK Armed Forces to participate in other international adaptive sports events throughout the year.

RN participation in the WW trials and games has occurred for several years and was historically organised by the Royal Navy Recovery Centre Hasler (RNRC Hasler) due to the concentration of staff and concentration of complex Personnel on Recovery Duty (PRD). With the establishment of the RRM HQ, this liaison and planning role moved with the transfer of the SO3 Recovery Operations position. With the increased entry and exit criteria of the RN Recovery Pathway (RNRP) and broader reach and engagement by the HQ, significantly more serving personnel are both eligible for and applying to undertake these opportunities.

A key indicator of this broader reach is the number of serving RN applicants to the Invictus Games held in Whistler, Canada in 2025; there were 35 serving RN applicants resulting in 7 successful candidates who went to represent Team UK. This is in stark contrast to the Army who received 7 applicants from serving personnel. It is the Directors direction that opportunities for serving RN personnel are further optimised with an aspiration of the RN contingent in IG Team UK being largely serving personnel.

The following actions were given by the Dir in a post-IG briefing note to 1SL on 5 Mar 25:

• RN Recovery & Resilience HQ to work to increase the number of Serving RN personnel in the IG27 UK team.
• RN to scope the generation an FTRS post embedded within the Invictus Games 27 Planning team.
• RN to support Defence aspiration to send tri-Service teams to Wounded Warrior Games in non-Invictus Games years – next focus 2026.

The engagement with the USN, USMC, US DoD: liaison across the RN; planning and execution of UK participation in the WW trials and games is labour intensive. The aspiration is to increase engagement with Navy Sport to not just facilitate participation in these discrete activities, but to build a full programme of adaptive sport opportunities and training to better prepare participants and optimise the opportunity for them to engage meaningfully and longer term in adaptive sports. This will consist of adaptive sports festivals giving all personnel in the RNRP (circa 2700) the opportunity to try different adaptive sports, followed by targeted training camps for those selected to represent the UK.

Currently, only the RN participate in the US WW opportunities; the aspiration is to support Defence in sending tri-Service teams. With limited capacity in the other Services, this role could offer a contribution to Defence in achieving this aspiration with a lead role in planning and delivery for future tri-Service teams, not just RN. This will build on the RN contribution to the Defence Recovery Capability, following the recent establishment of an RN OR8 position in Tedworth House Recovery Centre.

The Invictus Games Team UK is funded and supported by the Royal British Legion (RBL). A key lesson identified was that with an increased push for serving participation vice veterans, the complexity of interaction with Chain of Command and their medical systems needed to be improved. Examples of this came in training camps when serving personnel were unable to participate due to the occupational employment limitations placed upon them. Whilst this could be overcome, it was difficult for the RBL team to identify how and who to liaise with to ascertain medical clearance for participation. For civilians, the risk is their own but this was problematic for serving personnel.

Having a single point of contact for the RBL team will significantly mitigate such risks, act as a focal point to cohere the serving personnel and ensure there is serving RN attendance at all IG training camps and the Games themselves, delivering duty of care support face to face as required. Whilst the serving competitors remain assigned to their parent unit, this role will be key in their participation and can quickly identify and appropriately refer issues for both the competitors and their families.

Responsibilities:

• Act as RN liaison with RBL Invictus Games planning team.
• Support RN applicants through IG process.
• Attend all IG selection and training events.
• Attend IG primarily to support RN participants and team liaison with RRM HQ/broader RN as required.
• Act as RN liaison with US DoD for RN participation in WW trials and Games.
• Lead planner for RN Team UK participation in international recovery activities, primarily DoD WW Games.
• Liaise with Navy and Defence Media to optimise awareness and engagement for international recovery activities.
• RRM lead for Adaptive Sport liaising with the RN Sport team, advertising/advocating/championing Adaptive Sport including funding business cases and liaison within RRM HQ for RNRP integration.