Pvt. Spencer Howe aspires to be an Army chaplain someday — but for now, his day job involves wearing sequins and rhinestones and doing synchronized spin jumps on ice.
The 29-year-old soldier and Olympic pairs skater currently preparing to compete in the Milan Cortina Games is the first figure skater in the Army’s program that nurtures elite athletic talent, according to the program director.
Willie Wilson, director of the World Class Athlete Program, told Military Times in a phone interview from Italy that Howe, who enlisted in October 2024 and graduated boot camp in February 2025 as a Motor Transport Operator, had been excited to join the ranks.
“He has done a great job of not only representing WCAP, but also representing the Army,” Wilson said.
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WCAP, which dates to 1997, offers athletes from a broad range of disciplines the opportunity to train and compete while benefiting from elite in-house coaching while receiving a military paycheck. For U.S. athletes, who don’t receive any money from the government to compete in the Olympics and typically have to pay out of pocket for equipment, coaching and other needs, this can be a pretty attractive deal. In return, the athletes stay current on typical military training and requirements and serve in addition as an outreach and recruiting branch.
“They hold clinics, speak to high school and college audiences, talk with athletic teams and make appearances in support of Army recruiting stations,” WCAP says on its website.
At the Milan Cortina Games, the Army has six WCAP members participating, including Howe and bobsledder Frank Del Duca, who, alongside speedskater Erin Jackson, was selected by fellow athletes to carry the U.S. flag in the Olympic opening ceremonies Feb. 6. The Air Force also sent two members of its WCAP to the Games.
Howe, who has skated with partner Emily Chan since 2019, narrowly made it to the Olympics following a disappointing eighth-place finish in the short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in January. They squeaked into a qualifying position after finishing third in the free skate program.
“The roller coaster of the trials really opened my eyes,” Howe, who like other athletes is under a media blackout until the conclusion of the Olympics, said in an Army release. “Looking back at how the competition unfolded and how we were ultimately named to the team, we’re grateful and honored. Now we want to do our best representing the Army and the United States.”
This season, he and Chan are skating to the Italian “Caruso,” performed by Josh Groban, in their short program, and “Unchained Melody” from “Ghost: The Musical” in their free skate.
In an interview with U.S. Figure Skating last November, Howe acknowledged that taking time out to complete Army Basic Training and follow-on job requirements had come with its challenges.
“Even though I learned how to be an 88M, my current duty is to maintain a high level of military standard and a high level of athletic standard as they both now coincide with each other,” he said in the interview. “Every day I check in remotely with my platoon sergeant, and I take on each training day as an opportunity to fulfill my duties as that soldier-athlete.”
When he finally returned to training last June, he said, he came with an additional set of skills — beyond those required to operate and maintain the vehicles in the Army’s motor pool.
“I started looking at skating from a soldier’s perspective and not just an athlete. Taking on the responsibility to compete at the highest level — not just for Team USA but also for the Army — is a different level of commitment," he said. “Working with my partner Emily every day isn’t just a job; it feels like a duty. Approaching training with that mindset has changed how I work and helped me excel.”
According to Army releases, Howe plans to join the Chaplain Candidate Program after finishing his undergraduate degree, begun last year. Eventually, he said, he plans to earn his Master of Divinity.
Wilson, who is attending his eighth Olympics since joining the program in 2007, said Army Secretary Dan Driscoll had already visited the Games to encourage and congratulate the athletes. While the competitors will return to the U.S. at different times following their events, Wilson said the camaraderie and team spirit was strong and would be capped off with a get-together at WCAP headquarters in Colorado Springs later this year.
While WCAP wants its athletes to do as well as they can, it’s a lower-pressure environment than most sports sponsorship programs.
“If your best today is an Olympic gold medal, we’re pretty excited about that,” Wilson said. “But if your best turns out to be a sixth-place performance, we’re honored that you’re here and proud of you, and we would consider that success within the program.”
The pairs skating competition begins Feb. 15.
Hope Hodge Seck is an award-winning investigative and enterprise reporter covering the U.S. military and national defense. The former managing editor of Military.com, her work has also appeared in the Washington Post, Politico Magazine, USA Today and Popular Mechanics.
