VETERANS EXPEDITIONS AT OUTWARD BOUND

Adventure and challenge, solitude, reflection, and renewal, the Wilderness has always symbolized a new beginning – a place for discovery and fulfilling adventure.  The Outward Bound program for Veterans provides an opportunity for camaraderie and has proven to be a powerful tool in helping veterans readjust after leaving the combat zone.

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Through generous funding by the Military Family Outdoor Initiative Project, a joint partnership of The Sierra Club and The Sierra Club Foundation, we are offering a tremendous opportunity for adventure and self-discovery to our veterans of combat operations in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom) and Southwest Asia (Operation Iraqi Freedom).  We have over 20 years serving our nation’s combat veterans through a long partnership with the Disabled American Veterans organization, where we have offered enriching wilderness expeditions specifically designed for war veterans at no cost to the participants. 

We have scheduled numerous wilderness adventures exclusively for our war veterans and we will fully fund these courses for all participants, to include their roundtrip travel costs between home and the excursion site.  Our goals include helping participating veterans build a supportive community with other war veterans; facilitating discussions on readjustment and transition challenges; and re-energizing and reinvigorating our veterans’ spirits with adventures and challenges in the beautiful outdoors. 

Expedition Overview:  Offered year-round, our Outward Bound Expeditions take war veterans to amazing wilderness areas such as Maine, Minnesota, Colorado, and California.  Depending on the expedition, activities could include backpacking, mountaineering, rock climbing, canoeing, ropes courses, and dog sledding.  Expeditions are 5 days in length and are staffed with experienced outdoor educators. 

Who is Eligible:  Under this program, all Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) veterans, including current and former members of the Active and Reserve Components of the United States military.  It doesn’t matter what your current military status is (active, inactive, discharged, retired) as long as you deployed in support of OEF or OIF combat operations while in the military.   

Enrollment Options:  There are two types of courses available, each offering wilderness expeditions year-round.

• Open Enrollment Courses:  Outward Bound has scheduled expeditions where individual war veterans sign up for the course of their choosing, attend on an individual basis, and meet other war veterans from around the nation.  Each course will have 8 to 12 participants.  See schedule below for 2008 courses that are full; 2009 and 2010 courses will be announced soon.

• Custom Courses:  We will schedule customized expeditions upon request for groups of war veterans; these customized expeditions can be tailored to specific needs.  These courses are for organizationally established groups of veterans along with their counselor or therapist (mental health worker, outreach specialist).  In order to run a custom course with Outward Bound, a minimum of 9 participants is needed.  These courses can be scheduled at any time of year and at nearly any location where Outward Bound operates.  The course activities can be customized to a variety of ability levels.

Cost:  Free-of-charge.  All costs, including round-trip travel between home and expedition location; lodging en route; and food, lodging, equipment, and instruction while on the course, are fully paid by the Military Family Outdoor Initiative Project. 

Application Details for Individual Veterans Applying for Open Enrollment Courses:  All interested candidates will be asked to complete an Application Form and then an Enrollment Packet will be sent to you upon completion and return of the Application. When we post our 2009/2010 course, we will also provide a downloadable application form and the name, phone number, and e-mail address of our veterans program course advisor.

Application Details for Custom Group Courses:  If you are a counselor or therapist who wants to schedule a Custom Course, please contact our Veterans Program Course Advisor, Doug Hayward, at obvets@outwardbound.org, or call 866-669-2362 ext. 8387.  He will refer you to the account executive who services your geographic region.

CURRENT OPEN ENROLLMENT COURSES FOR 2008 - All Courses Are Currently Full
OUTWARD BOUND OEF/OIF WAR VETERANS EXPEDITIONS

Leadville, Colorado:  Backpacking and rock climbing in the Colorado Rockies

• September 3-7, 2008 - Course Number - CEC910
• October 4-8, 2008 - Course Number - CEC911

Newry, Maine:  Backpacking and canoeing

• October 7-11, 2008  - Course Number - HFC910
• October 19-23, 2008  - Course Number - HFC911

Big Bend, Texas:  Back packing and cayoneering

• November 2-6, 2008  - Course Number - TEC910
• November 15-19, 2008 - Course Number - TEC911

Joshua Tree National Monument, California:  Backpacking and rock climbing

• December 3-7, 2008   - Course Number - JEC910
• December 14-18, 2008   - Course Number - JEC911

Ely, Minnesota:  Dog sledding

• February 3-7, 2009  - Course Number - MYC910

About Outward Bound:  Founded on the vision of renowned youth educator, Kurt Hahn, in 1941, Outward Bound has expanded into a nation-wide network of hands-on experiential learning courses for both young and old.  Today the organization serves 70,000 students and teachers annually in the U.S. and has over 500,000 alumni from its wilderness adventure programs.  For more information visit www.outwardbound.org.