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22 Wednesday, March 23, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon VETERANS: Mission assisted rangers, border patrol Continued from page 1 and continues to recover from a traumatic brain injury. “While I was in the hos- pital I had a lot of time, star- ing at ceiling tiles, and I kept thinking about the kinds of things veterans would want to do,” Brett said. Out of this long and painful healing process, the notion of Warfighter Outfitters (www. warfighteroutfitters.org) was born. Miller focuses on a single basic idea: the importance of getting wounded, and in many cases desperately struggling, veterans out of their houses and onto the land, hunt- ing, fishing, or participating in “engagement missions.” Those missions are conducted in places such as Yellowstone National Park, where recover- ing veterans with Warfighter Outfitters have helped repair trails and build corrals, or at Organ Pipe. Last year, Warfighter Outfitters served over 400 veterans, and Brett himself spent 211 days on the water guiding his fellow wounded veterans on rivers throughout the western United States, in addition to hunting trips and the engagement missions in national parks. Brett cites the disturbing fact that 22 veterans a day are committing suicide as a driving force behind these missions. “If I can get them out of their house, and out hunt- ing or fishing, they can find some relevance,” Miller said. “Particularly in a place like this, which is a tactical envi- ronment, something they understand.” For the engagement mis- sions, Warfighter Outfitters is supported by Arch Ventures, a venture-capital firm based in Chicago that is deeply involved and committed to wounded veteran programs. “What Brett is doing is incredibly important to these guys,” said Stacey Pinsoneault, of Arch Ventures, “and we are here to fully sup- port his efforts.” A member of the Arch sup- port crew, Pinsoneault, who lives in Chicago, was joined by CFO Mark McDonnell, as well as Alice Siebecker, a retired senior national park law enforcement officer, who flew in from Montana. And they weren’t there for window-dressing. In addition to arranging vehicles, meals, and coordinating schedules, all three volunteers joined Warfighter Outfitters’ veterans in the hard work under a blaz- ing Sonoran sun. The Organ Pipe engage- ment mission is now in its third year, and is maturing into a working partnership between Warfighter Outfitters and the undermanned govern- ment agencies tasked with enforcing the law and preserv- ing the monument’s natural and historical sites. “This is my second year coming,” said James Fries, an army veteran who was shot in the face in Somalia. “I really enjoy it. I like being with the guys, and doing something important. It just feels good. You get to see things nobody else does.” This year’s trip included dismantling and cleaning up smuggling camps and lay- up hides within yards of the dilapidated pedestrian fences and vehicle barriers on the border. The veterans collected hundreds of pounds of detritus left behind by smugglers. The mission was important not just for the preservation of the lands, but for the overall tacti- cal picture. A heavily armed Park Service law enforcement offi- cer, who was providing over- watch as the veterans worked, said, “This is really important to us. By getting this cleaned up we can see how the cartels photo by Craig rullMan Brett Miller takes his turn in the hole as veterans restore a damaged well in the Arizona desert. are changing their tactics, In addition to these activi- what new routes they are ties, the veterans were given going to use.” a VIP tour of the Border A second project in the Patrol’s Ajo Station, includ- National Monument saw the ing a very rare glimpse of the veterans clearing brush from Tactical Operations Center, an overgrown corral. A mile- where agents monitor a highly and-a-half hike from the sophisticated radar and optical Alamo Canyon Campground network, and coordinate mis- site, on the edge of a dry sions on a 24-hour basis. wash in the shadow of the On their final day in the Ajo Range, an old corral and desert, the veterans were a primitive well are remnants taken out to a remote area by of the Gray Ranch, a desert a heavily armed contingent of cattle operation that occupied Park Service officers, spend- the area for decades. ing time at an observation post Veterans, at the behest of actively looking for smugglers a Park Service archaeologist, with high-powered spotting cleared brush from the corral, scopes and FLIR technology. and then set to work re-dig- Miller calls these “engage- ging the old well, which had ment missions,” because been completely filled in as wounded veterans are actively the result of a 2012 flash flood See VeTeRANs on page 25 that tore through the wash. Quilt Raffl e for FURRY FRIEND S 501 ( c )( 3 ) FOUNDATION 100% of the proceeds go to Furry Friends Foundation. “Friends of Furry Friends” quilt was pieced by Valerie Fercho-Tillery. The bold colors and incredible detail make this a spectacular quilt. The quilt is currently on display at The Nugget offi ce, 442 E. Main Ave. Bring your pup by for a dog cookie and have a look! Tickets may be purchased at The Nugget offi ce or online at our website www.furryfriendsfoundation.org. Tickets are $1 each, six for $5 or go for it, 25 for $20. Info: 541-549-9941 “Friends of Furry Friends” - by Valerie Fercho-Tillery (46"w x 59"h)
