Jonny Benton found himself on his last mission. One more before heading home. It had been a 15-month deployment in Afghanistan with the 173rd Airborne and he was ready. They were scheduled to set up this last forward-operating base and head out.
It was routine.
Until it wasn’t.
Jonny found himself and 48 other personnel on the mission surrounded by 200-500 insurgent fighters and the next couple days turned into one of the deadliest missions in the war in Afghanistan.
When the time came for Benton and his company to pack up and go home, the memory of this battle was only one of the things tucked in their rucksacks.
“But my story is not unique,” explains Benton, pointedly.
Coming Home
It has been called many things over the years: battle fatigue, shell shock, PTSD and most recently PTSI (Post Traumatic Stress Injury.)
“The military does a great job of training its people to be soldiers,” he explains, adding that opportunity still exists in re-training them to be civilians after coming home. He notes that although four to six weeks is the cited amount of time it takes to reintegrate, many soldiers are finding it to be closer to two to seven years, depending on the things they need to work through upon coming back.
“The trauma doesn’t necessarily begin in battle,” he notes.
They bring their battles with them to the recruiting office when they sign up. Then they see active duty and the unpacking process ultimately goes further than just a deployment. In the first moments of that battle, Benton explains how he had mentally said goodbye to his family and decided that it was okay to die that day. How does one unravel that particular mindset?
Benton was medically discharged a few years later and sent home to Colorado. He came back home to his family and was working for and with veteran nonprofits, but still struggling to reintegrate.
Wild Warrior Adventures
He found himself invited to a fly-fishing trip that offered him an intentional opportunity to connect with his peers. And through that connection, things started to click into place for him.
What Benton had experienced after coming back from Afghanistan was a loss of brotherhood. Not only had he just lost friends and peers, he came back to a different structure in life. The fishing trip was built around three principles over the course of five days and created space for the attendees to rediscover their community, tell their stories and ultimately work on reprogramming what is in their sphere of influence.
Why do the best conversations happen around a campfire?
The first principle of Wild Warrior Adventures is to create space for these attendees to tell their stories.
“It’s ultimately about rediscovering identity–we are more than a uniform and we were created to live this life,” Benton explains.
The second principle of this non-profit is to incorporate the outdoors and adventure into this experience. Science has proven a connection between spending time outdoors and unplugging to a boost in overall physiological, psychological and cognitive well-being. It’s a distraction that actually grounds the participant, giving them the opportunity to regenerate, boost creativity and reduce anxiety.
The third principle is in the curriculum. It's four parts of interactive time that focuses on the person holistically: mind, body, and spirit. The purpose is to reprogram from disability to ability by showing the participants a way to live in Post Traumatic Growth (PTG), reactivating these incredible soldiers and directing their strengths toward intentional living, not just getting by.
Benton was so impacted by his experience that he now serves as the executive director for Wild Warrior Adventures. He plans the trips in detail, eliminating the mental load for the participants—all they have to do is show up and bring clothes. Right now, they are able to facilitate anywhere from three to six trips per year, depending on funding and the partnerships they have developed with the lodges and guides to create these premier experiences.
Benton notes that the average age of veterans committing suicide is over 50 years old.
“This is a lifelong journey,” he says. “The battle isn’t over and we are not going to leave these guys hanging. They need support, and without addressing this head on, we are doing them a disservice.”
To the battles behind and the adventures ahead.
Website: https://www.wildwarrioradventure.org/
Facebook: @WildWarriorAdventure
Instagram: @WildWarriorAdv