Dustin Livingston

Aviation Ordnanceman Petty Officer 1st Class Dustin Livingston followed family tradition and enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 2009. His military career started in the same place where his grandfather’s career ended, on the steps of the Houston Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS). Livingston participated in six underway deployments in support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and one ground deployment for a NATO mission in Libya, leading to a number of individual and unit achievement medals and citations. He will tell you that the most proud thing he’s ever done is become a father to his son and twin daughters. In 2024, his life turned on a dime, and he nearly left them, having a heart attack less than a week before Christmas. His recovery care coordinator at Navy Wounded Warrior kept him honest and on-track, “stick and rudder,” as the aviators called it, to keep up with his care plan. Livingston joined adaptive sports to be active again in a way that would support his cardiac recovery needs, but the benefits reached beyond what he could have imagined. He’s regained his confidence and knows how to be safely active without his body failing him. Moreover, he’s met teammates who have overcome their own conditions and taken strength from their resilience, and they from his. He developed a new love for wheelchair rugby. It’s fast-paced and high-energy, but also requires strategy and teamwork. He shifted his mindset to focus on what he can still achieve instead of what he has given up. In everything, he’s driven to make his family proud.