Call 1-866-669-2362, EXT. 8387

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 helping veterans readjust after leaving the combat zone.

Through generous funding by the Military Family Outdoor Initiative Project, a joint partnership of The Sierra Club and The Sierra Club Foundation, The Anschutz Family Foundation, and The Disabled American Veterans we are offering fully underwritten Outward Bound programs to Veterans. This is a tremendous opportunity for adventure and self-discovery to our veterans of combat operations in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom) and Iraq (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.

Our newest programs offer numerous wilderness adventures exclusively for war veterans, and are fully funded for all participants, to include their roundtrip stateside 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.

Click here to see all available open enrollment courses for veterans.

Program Details -

Who is Eligible: Under this program, all Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) veterans, who were deployed to these countries, 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. Military family members are not eligible to participate in this OEF/OIF program. However, please see, www.sierraclub.org/military for other programs for military family members funded by the Sierra Club.

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 7 to 12 participants. We anticipate having several hundred slots available for our OEF/OIF veterans each year. We'll fill the slots for the summer, fall, and winter of 2009 using a lottery for all leads received between April 9th 2009 and April 27th, 2009. We fill any vacancies or cancellations from a wait list. Click here to see all available open enrollment courses for veterans. To apply for the course you want to go on, simply click the apply link and fill out/submit the form to us.

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); and/or Unit Leader. In order to run a custom course with Outward Bound, in most cases 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. If you are a counselor, therapist, or Unit Leader, who wants to schedule a Custom Course, please contact one of our Veterans Program Course Advisors at obvets@outwardbound.org, or call 866-669-2362 ext. 8387. They will refer you to an account executive.

Cost: Free-of-charge. All costs, including round-trip stateside 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.

Future Course Offerings: Don't be discouraged if you are not selected to participate in one of our currently available course offerings. You'll have another opportunity to participate when we post the schedule for our 2010 - 2011 course offerings. If you would like to be on our email distribution list to be notified of future events, please click here.

If you have any questions regarding our 1/1/2009 - 3/31/2010 OEF/OIF Veterans Program course offerings, please contact 1-866-669-2362, ext. 8387 OR e-mail us at obvets@outwardbound.org.

Read Testimonials from Therapists and Other Vets

Read About Outward Bound Veterans Program in the News

Thank you again for your interest in our OEF/OIF Veterans program, and for your selfless and honorable military service.

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.