Tell us about your background.
I am a refugee from academia making a career in the US Air Force Reserve and the civil service. My wife Elise is an administrator with a music program at a local university. We have two children, William and Jacqueline. William is the oldest and has just recently become a teenager, so we have quite a ride ahead of us. My hobbies are photography, sailing, and piddling in the garage. I’ve been with the USAFR for 17 years and have been based at McGuire AFB in New Jersey and at Langley AFB in Virginia. I deployed to Camp Ramadi, Iraq in 2011. The rest of my service has been CONUS or in Germany.
How did you hear about Outward Bound?
I originally heard about Outward Bound as a teenager (30+ years ago), I think from ads in Backpacker magazine and maybe a television feature story or two. It sounded like a fantastic organization offering great adventure opportunities, but that sort of thing was not in the family budget back then. It was many years later that I heard of the veteran’s program through a coworker. I jumped at the opportunity.
Why did you select a sailing course?
I love to sail. Our family keeps a boat on the Chesapeake. I knew the OB sailing program would be an entirely different experience, however–I was looking forward to “camp sailing,” basically, and to practicing old-fashioned navigation skills. And being in the Keys in the middle of winter. Woot!
What was the best part of your course?
Meeting a wide variety of people who had to very quickly form a team, and seeing it work. Our team was fantastic, as were our instructors, Wendy and Timbah. The tiller time was awesome, since we had some pretty good winds.
What was the hardest part of your course?
Having to crawl over five other guys to pee in the middle of the night. The other old guy on the boat said the same thing.
What bonding experience did you have with others on your boat?
Quite a lot of bonding took place during our 5-day voyage. The program is very well designed to facilitate that bonding by removing, to the maximum extent possible, modern distractions and, as mentioned before, by requiring participants to work as a team. Something I noticed–and I mentioned this during one of our evening wrap-up sessions–was that I found myself having more real conversations during the trip than I had had for a long time. In our daily lives, we can fall into a pattern of glib superficiality. It is great to have an experience that breaks that pattern.
What impact has Outward Bound had on your life?
It has been a fantastic reset button for me and has left me wanting more adventures. It has made me remember that I want my kids to have such adventures, and time is fleeting.