{"id":33084,"date":"2018-06-26T21:07:01","date_gmt":"2018-06-26T21:07:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/06\/26\/shot-five-times-this-wounded-warrior-fought-her-way-back-to-active-duty-and-eight-gold-medals\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:28:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:28:43","slug":"shot-five-times-this-wounded-warrior-fought-her-way-back-to-active-duty-and-eight-gold-medals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/veterans\/2018\/06\/26\/shot-five-times-this-wounded-warrior-fought-her-way-back-to-active-duty-and-eight-gold-medals\/","title":{"rendered":"Shot five times, this wounded warrior fought her way back to active duty and eight gold medals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On Aug. 5, 2014, Navy Senior Chief Raina Hockenberry<\/a> was visiting a military academy in Kabul, Afghanistan, when an Afghan soldier turned and opened fire on the group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the \u201cgreen-on-blue\u201d attack<\/a>, Hockenberry was shot five times. Two bullets shattered her tibia, one hit her groin and the two remaining bullets hit her stomach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attack<\/a> killed Army Maj. Gen. Harold Greene<\/a>, the first American general officer to be killed by combat fire since Sept. 11, 2001. It also wounded 17 other coalition and Afghan forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly four years later, now-Master Chief Petty Officer Hockenberry has returned to service and has taken up the post of personnel and administrative officer on board the USS Port Royal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although that is her official title, \u201cthe great thing about being on a ship is that you are anything and everything,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hockenberry also recently won eight gold medals and set four records while competing in the 2018 Warrior Games<\/a> in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She competed in rowing, powerlifting, cycling and swimming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In four months, she will represent the U.S. at the Invictus Games in Sydney, Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Team Navy member Master Chief Petty Officer Raina Hockenberry celebrates after winning the 50-meter freestyle swim category during the DoD Warrior Games, June 8, 2018. (Master Sgt. Stephen D. Schester\/DoD)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But Hockenberry\u2019s recovery wasn\u2019t easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the attack, she lost almost seven inches of her tibia when it was shattered by bullets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of her recovery process, she wore a Taylor Spatial Frame, a contraption that includes a metal rod that connected the two pieces of her tibia. The frame stretched the bone one millimeter a day to try and reconnect the broken tibia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Had the treatment, known as \u201climb salvage,\u201d not worked, doctors would have been forced to amputate.<\/p>\n\n\n\t