Paralympic Medalist and Former Navy SEAL Dan Cnossen Joins USO Tour Across Alaska, Boosting Spirits Along the Way

By Danielle DeSimone

Several months ago, in the deep winters of Alaska, a service member reached out to the USO. He asked if, when considering who and where to send the next USO Entertainment tour, Alaska might be on the list. Specifically, he asked if the USO could send winter athletes to the last frontier as a way to boost morale and connect service members there with the great – and very chilly – outdoors of their duty station.

In July 2024, the USO delivered: Olympic snowboarders Red Gerard and Hailey Langland, as well as Paralympian biathlon competitor and cross-country skier Dan Cnossen traveled to Alaska to meet with the people who serve there, as well as their military families.

But for Dan Cnossen, this USO tour was particularly poignant, as he not only is a 7 x Paralympic medalist – he is also a former U.S. Navy SEAL lieutenant, making his visit with the Alaska military community all the more special.

Dan’s Journey from Navy SEAL to Paralympic Medalist

Originally from Kansas, Dan knew at a young age that he wanted to serve in the military. After graduating high school, Dan attended the U.S. Naval Academy, where he earned one of the few spots to enter Basic Underwater Demolition / SEAL training, which he completed in 2003. He was officially a member of the U.S. Navy SEALs, an elite maritime special operations force.

Over the course of the next six years, Dan deployed multiple times to the Middle East, leading a platoon of 18 other SEALs. Then, in 2009, Dan was deployed to a combat zone in Afghanistan where – during a night mission – Dan stepped on an IED and lost both of his legs in the explosion. He received both the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star with Valor.

As he recovered from a double amputation above the knees – the only U.S. Navy SEAL to sustain this kind of injury – and the many surgeries that came after, Dan knew that he would want to pursue something that would still challenge him. Once he had his strength back, Dan not only adjust to his new life as a civilian – he also was inspired to begin training and competing in Paralympic sports.

“I was very much in the mind of using my body in action – physical action. So, the natural thing – the only thing left for me, the only course of action where I could have physical action – would be going to the Paralympics where the athletes, by definition, have physical disabilities. And so this the direction that I went.”

Dan debated between summer and winter sports but, in the end, pursued winter sports because they gave him the chance to “get out in the woods” again. He specifically began training and competing in cross-country skiing, as it combined both physical fitness and technique, as well as the biathlon.

“You can go out for two hours and do 15-20 miles in the woods. It’s just an incredible sport for that connection with nature, and that’s how I got into it,” Dan said.

Just five years after the explosion in Afghanistan, Dan earned a spot on the 2014 U.S. Paralympic Team. He believes that much of his prior experience as a Navy SEAL prepared him for the high-pressure nature of Paralympic sports.

“I think when an organization looks at who they want to hire and they’re looking at a variety of people, one of the real strengths of military service members is the work ethic that the military instills and the discipline and the commitment,” Dan explained.

“Not everyone in the military has it at an equal level, but even at the baseline, it’s pretty high in terms of discipline, putting in work, being a good teammate and staying late to get the job done.”

Dan would go on to win one gold, four silver and one bronze medal in the 2018 Paralympic Games, as well as the title of Best Male Athlete of The Games. He earned an additional gold medal at the 2022 Paralympic Games. He is currently training to compete on Team USA once again in 2026.

As Dan explained, it is no coincidence that the Paralympic Games were founded shortly after World War II. In the aftermath of a war that left thousands of service members injured around the globe, the Paralympic Games offered veterans a chance to not only compete in sporting events, but also excel in them. That legacy carries on today and is evident in Dan’s own Paralympic athlete career, which brought him full circle to military bases on a USO tour this past summer.

Dan Cnossen’s First USO Tour

Although Dan recalls using the USO while deployed in locations in the Middle East, where USO Centers served – and continue to serve – as a refuge for service members who are spending long months away from home and loved ones, this was his first USO tour as an entertainer.

“I’m a retired service member from the Navy, so I remember the USO being overseas, but to be on the other side of it was really a unique experience,” he said. “Certainly, to be asked to be a Paralympic representative was an honor.”

Traveling to Alaska on the USO Entertainment tour was a full-circle moment for Dan in more ways than one. Aside from it being the first time he had spent a great deal of time on a military base since his time in service, Dan had also undergone training at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, just a few months before being deployed to Afghanistan, where he sustained his injury.

“It was really the second to last major training that I did as a SEAL. So, to go back there 15 years later and see it…it was just a surreal experience for me, overall,” he said.

Dan even got to tour a Chinook helicopter on the tour that was nearly identical to the one that evacuated him out of Afghanistan following his injury.

Together with Red Gerard and Hailey Langland, Dan toured several bases in Alaska, where the three athletes met with service members, military spouses and military children. They spoke at Q&As, shared lunches with service members, toured air hangars and more.

Dan explained that he was impressed by how many service members and military families attended the events, as they were hosted on a weekend, which is when service members usually recharge after a long week on duty by relaxing or spending time with friends and loved ones. It was also particularly special that this USO tour had been specifically requested by a service member.

“It’s even more meaningful that this was requested. We had incredible turnout,” Dan said. “That turnout to me was very meaningful, that people chose to show up. That was the coolest part, knowing that they wanted to be there.”

Dan also enjoyed both getting to know his fellow USO tour entertainers, Red Gerard and Hailey Langland, as well as seeing them explore this military world that was relatively new to them. All three athletes were extremely engaged with the crowds that showed up to meet them, and Dan expressed that he couldn’t wait to cheer on Red and Hailey in the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics when all three of them go to compete.

However, Dan’s favorite part of the tour, by far, was getting the chance to interact one-on-one with service members and military families in Alaska. As a veteran himself, Dan enjoyed returning to a military environment. Although he remains in touch with friends from his time in service, he rarely goes on military bases anymore, so traveling to installations on this tour was a nice reminder of military life, as was interacting with the service members there.

“For me, it was just a very strong reminder of some of the sacrifices that service members go through. Many of them are not from Alaska and they are away from family often. They’re doing important work, it’s critical, but it’s not always the easiest thing,” Dan said. “Seeing that was a reminder, it was good for me.”

Why USO Entertainment Tours and USO Centers in Alaska are Important

Many of the sacrifices Dan noted involve the location of Alaska itself. Alaska is well known throughout the military community as a difficult duty station to be assigned. In the winter, temperatures can drop to 50 degrees below zero, with only a few hours of sunlight each day.

And because many military bases in Alaska are located in remote areas, service members have limited options in places to spend time beyond their barracks, which can lead to isolation. Meanwhile, in the summer, the sun is in the sky almost 24/7, making sleeping difficult. And on top of all these challenges, the service members and military families who are stationed in Alaska are often not from the state, which means that they are separated from their usual support networks of friends and family in the lower 48 states.

All of these circumstances can lead members of the military community to struggle with their mental health and well-being in this region. The U.S. military has made concerted efforts in recent years to improve military members’ quality of life in Alaska, but through it all, there has always been one place service members can turn to: the USO.

USO Centers provide a “home away from home” for the people who serve and their military families. Here, they can find all the typical USO amenities of comfortable couches, TVs, gaming consoles, libraries, a children’s play area, event spaces and more. The USO Fort Wainwright Center also has a wellness center with exercise equipment, offering service members and military spouses with the opportunity to go to the gym during those long, dark winter months, or to exercise while their children are safely playing in the USO Center.

The USO Mobile team – essentially, USO Centers-on-wheels – provides support to service members stationed at remote locations spread across the 663,300-square-mile state and far from a brick-and-mortar USO Center.

And USO Entertainment tours such as the one that Dan, Red and Hailey traveled on are also another way that the USO reaches out to service members in Alaska. USO Entertainment tours, which travel to remote locations around the country as well as front-line locations overseas, are a message to service members: you are not alone and you are not forgotten. To see that athletes, actors, musicians and other entertainers have taken the time to come visit them, it can truly show the people who serve how grateful we are, as a nation, for their service. But as Dan noted from his own experience as a veteran, these tours provide additional support that goes beyond the star power of the entertainers.

“The struggles in Alaska are real. I think the most important thing that the USO is doing is it’s not necessarily just the entertainment itself, but it’s also getting people out of their room to come to the entertainment and then interact together and then maybe form some community and see their friends,” Dan said.

“And from there, who knows what can happen? But a big part of this mental health initiative, I think, is just to bring people together. And I think that’s one of the great things about the USO experience – it gets people to come out and interact amongst each other on the base and then form friendships.”

For a location such as Alaska, these bonds can be crucial to sustaining the well-being of the people who serve, as well as their families, while living under extreme conditions. Studies show that people with a stronger sense of community report less symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress.

USO Entertainment tours can have an immense impact on those they reach, including military children. In fact, Dan especially enjoyed interacting with military children on one of their stops on the USO tour, which really put into perspective his role as an athlete outside of competitions.

As Dan explained, earning a medal as a Paralympic or Olympic athlete is a huge accomplishment – but it’s what the medal represents that truly matters. To Dan, a medal is a representation of the work one puts in, or the struggle that an athlete has overcome to achieve such an accomplishment. And, in turn, that work, that accomplishment, that medal can have a reverberating effect on those around them.

“It’s something that can bring people together. It can inspire kids. It’s almost like you could have a duty as an athlete to not show it off or brag about it, but to use it as a way to talk to kids and get their eyes wide open and about – ‘hey, you can achieve your dreams too.’”

Dan encouraged any other athlete who is considering participating in a USO tour to dive headfirst into the experience.

“This tour isn’t about the athlete, it’s about the impact you can have on the service members who are out there making it possible for you to even do your sport in the first place. It’s about helping out the troops,” Dan said.

“And so I really would recommend this to other athletes to do, just to be able to give back a little bit and help out those who are on the front lines, or deployed overseas far from home in some cases, and uplift them just a little bit. It’s the least you can do.”