Petty Officer Justin Brown was "so bloody nervous" to be pushing himself out of his comfort zone to take on four sports as part of Team Australia in the US Department of Defense's Warrior Games in Florida.
Almost 30 years into his Navy career, the imagery specialist is learning to live with major depression and anxiety after returning "a major mess" from a deployment in Afghanistan in 2013.
"I'd walk into shops and if there were narrow aisles or any of that stuff, I'd just break out in the sweats," he said.
"I would have to get out of the shopping centre because I was just starting to freak out.
"In such a heightened alert, my fight and flight was definitely set on flight."
The Bondi attacks brought a lot of those feelings back up for the 49-year-old, but the unassuming sport of archery, along with medication and support from his wife Gail and sons Samuel (17) and Bennet (14), improved his headspace to a point where he was ready to fly to the other side of the world to compete against the best of the US military.
Splitting his time between family at Jervis Bay and work in Sydney, Petty Officer Brown picked up the bow about two years ago at Nowra PCYC alongside his eldest son.
"We went up there and I was like, 'this is something I've always wanted to try' and so I just got deep into it," Petty Officer Brown said.
"And it's such a good thing because you're just focusing on one thing, trying to get that arrow hitting the target. Everything else just vanishes."
Also competing in indoor rowing, shooting and sitting volleyball at the games, Petty Officer Brown's journey is about more than rehabilitation and recovery through adaptive sports. He said being part of a team so full of redemption and fightback stories was inspiring.
He said he was most looking forward to contributing as a team member and cheering on his new Team Australia family.
"In Defence, because everyone moves around, you lose track of a lot of mates," Petty Officer Brown said.
"So I've been living the last 10 years with hardly any mates and that's what this is.
"While I've been around the team, I've just been so far out of my shell and starting to be happier."
The games are an annual adaptive sports competition highlighting the exceptional physical skills and mental toughness of wounded, injured and ill serving and former-serving members from the US military, along with 30 competitors from Australia.
They are currently underway until June 30 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida.
