Our Cause

Veterans Backcountry Adventures is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving active duty military and veterans by offering outdoor adventures and recreational activities. Our mission is to provide a supportive community for those who have served in high-stress and dangerous roles, recognizing the impact these experiences can have on mental health. We believe that spending time with fellow comrades in the great outdoors is a powerful way to promote mental well-being and enhance overall quality of life.

When we lose our teammates, we lose a part of ourselves.  It is sometimes easy to take camaraderie and brotherhood for granted when you are an active part of it. But when you step away from the job it quickly catches up to you.  No matter how well meaning, someone who has not served, can not understand this toll, something that is always present in an operator's mind.

There is a comfort and peace being around people who have had similar experiences.  We do not need to talk about them or rehash old misadventures, though that does often happen, we can just sit around the fire and talk about the day’s fishing.  As a wise old sergeant once said, “sometimes feeling good is good enough.”

Our Values

  • The bonds formed during the harsh struggles of training and deployment in many ways defy definition. It’s a feeling deep in one’s guts. So strong. Never diminishes. Stronger than family. Thicker than blood. Being away from that takes a portion of your soul. We are less without our brothers.

  • Say what you mean and mean what you say. Do the right thing when no one is watching. Uphold the standard. Never let a brother down. Earn it every day. We all fail thousands of times, in things large and small. Integrity allows us to own up to failings without disassembling and to continue striving to do better.

  • There is no good without struggle and strife. It makes victory all the more sweet for the pain. Nothing worthwhile is ever easy. To overcome and adapt takes guts. Intestinal Fortitude is the defining common denominator amongst operators.

  • Wilderness is the beating heart of our nation. We are blessed with some of the most captivating and beautiful landscapes in the world and they have been set aside for us by our founding fathers. Time in the wilderness brings rejuvenation and healing. Cold, clean spring water when you’ve hiked hours with a heavy pack in the heat. A warm fire after fishing in sleet and rain for hours. It is VBA’s goal to make accessing these places simple, painless and cost free for our participants.

When in the wild, beautiful landscapes of this country, it is impossible when you wake up, as the sun rises, not to think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive.  

To inhale the fresh air, to think, to enjoy, to love. Every day is a gift.