Friday, May 1 was a special day for USA Sevens’ Kasey McCravey.
More than two years after joining the World Class Athlete Program (WCAP), McCravey was promoted from First Lieutenant to Captain in the Army, a role which gives her more responsibility than ever before, including legally over soldiers she oversees.
Before rugby and WCAP, McCravey was wildly successful in softball. As a decorated student-athlete at the United States Military Academy, she earned many achievements including No. 1 on Sports Center’s Top 10 and an ESPY Nomination for 2016 Play Of the Year.
After graduating in 2016, she was contacted by Andrew Locke, former USA Women’s Sevens Assistant Coach, while she was deployed in Europe in 2017. As a retired Army Captain and fellow alumni from the USMA, Locke knew McCravey’s softball talent would transfer into great success on the rugby field.
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“Softball gave me so much in my life but I was ready to retire after college,” said McCravey. “The thought of learning a new sport from some of the top players and coaches in the world was incredibly exciting. After my first week at the training center in November 2017, I fell in love with the people, the sport and the rugby culture immediately. I haven’t looked back since.”
Within weeks of discovering rugby, McCravey earned a spot on the residency roster which subsequently led her to the Army World Class Athlete Program. The WCAP allows athletes to serve their country in the military while also representing the nation through international sport.
Through the years, McCravey’s career has blossomed. In 2019, she made her national team debut at the Sydney stop of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series and helped the program win its first two gold medals in Biarritz and Glendale the following year.
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Now adding a promotion in the Army, both achievements represent great personal and patriotic significance.
“It is an absolute honor,” she says. “Being promoted to Captain means the Army trusts you with a certain amount of responsibility. The key leadership opportunity you get is becoming a company commander who is responsible for the training, safety, security, and discipline of his or her Soldiers. There can be over 100 Soldiers within a company. They are also responsible for mission accomplishment, supervision of operations and employment of the unit all while maintaining visibility of employed company assets and personnel.”
Officers in the Army have 11 attainable ranks, starting with Second Lieutenant at the lowest level and Five-Star General at the highest. McCravey was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant after college, becoming a First Lieutenant 18 months later. Her new role was attained in the same amount of time.
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“The Army has taught me many skills over the years,” she says. “The importance of maintaining a level head in the most hectic situations, resiliency, leading through adversity, the value of trust, how important the buddies to the left and right of you truly are and so much more.”
Like most national team players, McCravey channels a group of transferable skills to be effective in training and the military.
“Rugby is not only a physically demanding game, but it is mentally taxing as well. The Army equipped me with the mental skills I need to learn, grow and compete in this beautiful game.”
As she juggles both rugby and the Army, McCravey finds herself with full support from both programs to keep her day-to-day demands manageable.
“Currently, my Army duties are very minimal and the majority of my time is devoted to rugby. WCAP realizes the importance of being a full-time athlete — and what it takes to compete internationally — so their mission for us is to hopefully be on the Olympic team.”
While the Army is immensely supportive of Team USA athletes, they also find opportunities to keep officers engaged in military duties without disruption to training or competition.
“We still need to be proficient in our basic military skills, as well as physical fitness,” said McCravey. “We conduct our Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) semi-annually, do online training and qualify on the M-4 rifle annually. Additionally, we conduct essential outreach activities once a year including clinics, speaking to high school and college audiences and talking with athletic teams in support of recruitment.”
McCravey will be in active duty for a minimum of five years and plans to remain on board for another two to three years after that. As she enters a new chapter as Captain in the Army, she’ll continue to fight for a spot on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Team in 2021.
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McCravey is one of several USA Rugby National Team players who are also part of WCAP including 2016 Olympian Nana Fa’avesi, Ashlee Byrge, Cody Melphy and more.