thedrifter
01-17-09, 06:38 AM
Marine veterans go Outward Bound
Saturday, January 17, 2009
By GUY BUSBY
Staff Reporter
WEEKS BAY — Camping in subfreezing weather in a swamp after overturning canoes in swift icy water was just part of a chance to unwind for Marines taking part in the first Outward Bound excursion for returning veterans in Alabama.
"Some of it was a challenge, but it was good to get away," said Maj. Steve Taylor. "The weather was something. We flipped a canoe — my canoe, actually." He hesitated and laughed. "That was refreshing."
Seven members of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve's 3rd Force Reconnaissance Company, which is based in Mobile, took part in the exercise, accompanied by two instructors from the Outward Bound program. Participants canoed in the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta for much of the week before concluding Friday with a series of rope drills at Camp Beckwith on Weeks Bay.
"It's like when I use the paddle to steer the canoe," Sgt. Shelby Allen of Fairhope said of the motion in one stretching exercise Friday.
"That must have been the only time you put a paddle in the water," responded Cpl. Bert Winschel of Vicksburg.
Although the men joked, the program has a serious intent, said Dr. Lynn Yonge, one of the organizers of Outward Bound in Baldwin County. For more than 20 years, Outward Bound has offered programs for returning veterans. The first participants were men who had served in Vietnam, said Gilbey Kim, an Outward Bound veterans program instructor. Kim said the Delta trip was the first such program in Alabama.
A $3 million grant from the Sierra Club supporting the program allows Outward Bound to offer the trips at no cost to veterans, Yonge said.
For many veterans, the trips are a chance to relieve the stresses of combat. In other cases, it's just a chance to unwind after returning home. Jim Dees, a Baldwin County Outward Bound instructor, said the choice is up to participants.
"If they needed something out of this, we're there," he said. "If they want this to just be a nature trip, that's fine."
Taylor said the exercise ended up being a bit of both.
"We'd go out during the day in the Delta, but at night the staff would pose questions about what we wanted for ourselves and we'd talk about it."
Dees said his previous experience with Outward Bound has been working with teens. The Marines were a different experience. The men have their own way of doing things.
"We'd offer them a choice of taking a long, easy route or cutting straight through and trying to find their way," he said. "Them being a recon unit, they took the same choice every time. I've been going into the Delta for 30 years, and I saw places in the last few days that I've never seen before."
Taylor said most of the participants have served a tour of duty in Iraq. The unit will be called up again later this year for another tour, and members expect to be back in Iraq by August.
Yonge said the local Outward Bound organization plans to offer more trips for veterans later this year. Members of local National Guard units and veterans from other areas have already scheduled exercises.
Ellie
Saturday, January 17, 2009
By GUY BUSBY
Staff Reporter
WEEKS BAY — Camping in subfreezing weather in a swamp after overturning canoes in swift icy water was just part of a chance to unwind for Marines taking part in the first Outward Bound excursion for returning veterans in Alabama.
"Some of it was a challenge, but it was good to get away," said Maj. Steve Taylor. "The weather was something. We flipped a canoe — my canoe, actually." He hesitated and laughed. "That was refreshing."
Seven members of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve's 3rd Force Reconnaissance Company, which is based in Mobile, took part in the exercise, accompanied by two instructors from the Outward Bound program. Participants canoed in the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta for much of the week before concluding Friday with a series of rope drills at Camp Beckwith on Weeks Bay.
"It's like when I use the paddle to steer the canoe," Sgt. Shelby Allen of Fairhope said of the motion in one stretching exercise Friday.
"That must have been the only time you put a paddle in the water," responded Cpl. Bert Winschel of Vicksburg.
Although the men joked, the program has a serious intent, said Dr. Lynn Yonge, one of the organizers of Outward Bound in Baldwin County. For more than 20 years, Outward Bound has offered programs for returning veterans. The first participants were men who had served in Vietnam, said Gilbey Kim, an Outward Bound veterans program instructor. Kim said the Delta trip was the first such program in Alabama.
A $3 million grant from the Sierra Club supporting the program allows Outward Bound to offer the trips at no cost to veterans, Yonge said.
For many veterans, the trips are a chance to relieve the stresses of combat. In other cases, it's just a chance to unwind after returning home. Jim Dees, a Baldwin County Outward Bound instructor, said the choice is up to participants.
"If they needed something out of this, we're there," he said. "If they want this to just be a nature trip, that's fine."
Taylor said the exercise ended up being a bit of both.
"We'd go out during the day in the Delta, but at night the staff would pose questions about what we wanted for ourselves and we'd talk about it."
Dees said his previous experience with Outward Bound has been working with teens. The Marines were a different experience. The men have their own way of doing things.
"We'd offer them a choice of taking a long, easy route or cutting straight through and trying to find their way," he said. "Them being a recon unit, they took the same choice every time. I've been going into the Delta for 30 years, and I saw places in the last few days that I've never seen before."
Taylor said most of the participants have served a tour of duty in Iraq. The unit will be called up again later this year for another tour, and members expect to be back in Iraq by August.
Yonge said the local Outward Bound organization plans to offer more trips for veterans later this year. Members of local National Guard units and veterans from other areas have already scheduled exercises.
Ellie