Kirk M. Bauer, JD

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Kirk M. Bauer, JD

Executive Director

Disabled Sports USA

For Kirk M. Bauer and Disabled Sports USA, life is downhill only when you’re skiing.

Rockville-based Disabled Sports USA, a nonprofit organization, grew out of a 1967 effort to give returning war veterans a chance to do physical activities.

The organization, open to all people with disabilities, now offers programs in more than 30 individual and team sports and activities — cycling, rock climbing, tennis, basketball, windsurfing, and the list goes on. A specific effort called Warfighter Sports focuses on severely wounded warriors.

There are 118 chapters in 42 states, said Bauer, who lost his left leg above the knee while serving with the U.S. Army’s 9th Infantry Division in Vietnam.

Bauer got a law degree in Boston in 1978. He used his undergraduate degree in political science while working on Capitol Hill.

He said skiing in New England helped him stay sane while in law school. He decided that the sports organization for which he volunteered needed to become professional. He took over as Disabled Sports USA’s executive director in 1982.

The nonprofit entity grew through its chapters, which get grants from the parent organization for specific programs and training in fundraising, management and other skills.

Bauer shows what the organization can do by doing it himself, too. In January, he led a group of wounded veterans from three wars on a climb in Argentina up Aconcagua, which, at nearly 23,000 feet, is the highest mountain outside of Asia. He stopped at 20,000 feet; others reached the top. He has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and does 100-mile “century” bike rides and long hikes.

“I’m a firm believer in leadership by example,” Bauer said.