The GAMES Act eliminates the one-year post-separation time limit for veterans to become eligible for the Department of Defense's military adaptive sports program.
Brian Mast
Representative
FL-21
The Gaining Meaningful Experiences from Service Act, or GAMES Act, expands eligibility for veterans to participate in the Department of Defense's military adaptive sports program. This legislation removes the previous one-year time limit veterans faced after leaving service to enroll. As a result, all veterans are now eligible to access these beneficial adaptive sports opportunities regardless of when they separated.
GAMES Act Removes One-Year Deadline for Veterans to Join Military Adaptive Sports Program
The newly proposed Gaining Meaningful Experiences from Service Act, or the GAMES Act, is a short, straightforward bill focused on knocking down a bureaucratic barrier for veterans seeking therapeutic programs. Specifically, the bill targets the Department of Defense’s military adaptive sports program and eliminates the existing one-year time limit for veterans to enroll after separating from service.
The Clock Stops Ticking
Before this bill, if a veteran with a service-related injury wanted to join the military adaptive sports program—which uses sports like cycling, swimming, and shooting as rehabilitation—they had a hard deadline. They had to sign up within one year of leaving the military. Think of it like a warranty that expires quickly, even if you weren't ready to use the product yet. The GAMES Act changes Section 2564a(a)(1)(B) of title 10, U.S. Code, to completely remove this cutoff date. This means veterans can now access these programs whenever they need them, regardless of how long it’s been since they hung up their uniform.
Why This Matters in the Real World
For most people, the immediate aftermath of leaving the military is a chaotic mix of finding a job, securing housing, and navigating the VA system. For veterans dealing with physical or psychological wounds, that first year is often spent just trying to stabilize their lives and manage pain, not necessarily signing up for extracurriculars. This bill recognizes that recovery isn't a neat, one-year process.
Consider a veteran who sustained a spinal injury and spent 18 months in intense medical treatment, only to emerge focused on securing their family's financial stability. By the time they realize the therapeutic benefit of adaptive sports, the old one-year window would have slammed shut. The GAMES Act keeps that door open indefinitely. It ensures that the benefit is available when the veteran is actually mentally and physically ready to engage, not just when a calendar dictates.
This is a clear win for accessibility. It doesn't add a new program or cost a fortune, but simply makes an existing, valuable resource available to all eligible veterans on their timeline, not the government’s.