CUMBERLAND — Outward Bound began in 1941 as an initiative to help new sailors learn the skills they needed to navigate the North Sea during World War II.
The nonprofit organization has been helping military service members ever since. It’s no surprise, then, that the Colorado-based program has opened its doors to veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Recently, Outward Bound’s adventure-based education program, in which groups of five or more are challenged by a week in the wilderness, has been opened up to area veterans. The Baltimore Chesapeake Bay Outward Bound center, located at Leakin Park, takes those veterans on hiking trips along the Appalachian Trail or canoeing along the Potomac River.
Jim Garrett, a board member of the Baltimore Outward Bound, said the chance for a returning veteran to escape to the outdoors in a nonhostile environment can work wonders for re-integration into civilian life.
“It’s a different kind of outdoors,” said Garrett, who is familiar with and promotes the use of Mountain Maryland’s natural resources due to ties to Garrett County’s namesake, John Work Garrett, his great-great-grandfather.
Trips offer veterans “very different circumstances from being in a conflict zone, to be back with people who have shared the same kind of experience,” Garrett said. “They can let down some of the guard that you have to take a little bit with you when you go back into the civilian world where people don’t necessarily understand what you’ve gone through. There are a lot of folks coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan who are finding the transition pretty challenging.”
Instead of facing enemy fire, Garrett said veterans are in a safe environment focused on the next challenge of achieving a summit or navigating the river.
“It’s just a chance to unwind and share stories,” Garrett said, “to get a sense that, you know, we can do this, we can go back into the civilian world and make a go of it.”
Sometimes those trips begin in Oldtown and head down river. Savage River State Forest once was used but is no longer, due to the negative impact of gypsy moths. Trips also venture to the Dolly Sods Wilderness area in the West Virginia counties of Tucker and Randolph.
The trips, which take place in remote locations across the country, are free of charge to veterans. Funding for the program is donated by the Military Family Outdoor Initiative Project, a joint partnership of The Sierra Club and The Sierra Club Foundation.
John Enny, community liaison for the Baltimore Outward Bound, said his location hopes to serve 40 veterans this year. Outreach efforts to area organizations began in October. The next expedition is scheduled to begin June 28. For more information, log on to www.outwardboundbaltimore.org or call Enny at 410-448-1721.
Kevin Spradlin can be reached at kspradlin@times-news.com.
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