Photo courtesy of Team Semper Fi
Leaving the military means leaving a lot behind. The structure. The camaraderie. Knowing exactly what the mission is and who’s next to you. Sports offer a way back to it. Whether a group run, hike or workout, it brings a goal to work toward and a team that pushes you to reach it.
But finding the motivation to move, and a community to train alongside, is a different challenge.
Team Red, White & Blue and Team Semper Fi make it easier. Learn how these two ExpertVoice partners connect veterans with the people, programs and purpose they’ve been looking for.
Team Red, White & Blue (Team RWB) is dedicated to forging America’s leading health and wellness community for veterans. Veteran-founded in 2010, the nonprofit offers fitness meetups, training and challenges that support physical and mental health, real friendships and a shared sense of purpose. Show up at one of 150+ local chapters, take part virtually through the Team RWB Member App or rally with fellow “Eagles” at national events.
For Michael “Sully” Sullivan, Team RWB isn’t just the organization he leads. It’s the one he leaned on. A retired Army colonel with 30 years in uniform, he joined in 2011 as a founding member of the Fayetteville chapter and became executive director last year, taking over for founder Mike Erwin.
A fellow veteran who served with Sully in Afghanistan, Mike had seen many friends struggle after service. “You immediately lose your community,” Sully explains. “The folks that were on your left and right and day-to-day interactions, that goes away, and with that, you lose your identity a bit.” Sully says the loss of purpose and the fitness routine the military required only adds to it, taking a toll on mental health.
Mike, a longtime runner, saw a way to counter it: a fitness community veterans could plug into, even before they transitioned out. Sixteen years later, the mission is still enriching veterans’ lives, with exercise as the tool.
We provide you with an opportunity to work on your physical fitness, mental health, nutrition, sleep, those kinds of things, and then it’s really just bringing people together through a community where they can have fun with their fitness.
– Michael “Sully” Sullivan
The best of Team RWB happens close to home. Its 150+ volunteer-led chapters gather regularly, creating a local circle of support. “We have activity groups for anything you could think of,” Sully says, from running (“our bread and butter”) to cycling, CrossFit, hiking and more.
No chapter nearby? The Team RWB Member App brings the community to you, with monthly missions, challenges and resources. “It has a little bit of a social media feel,” Sully says, with members sharing updates and championing each other’s progress.
Throughout the year, the community comes together for national events that honor moments in military history and the people who lived them. Take the GWOT 100, where members move 100 miles in February any way they choose, earning a badge and unlocking a video story from the Global War on Terror at each milestone.
Sully says Eagles aren’t just members; they’re volunteers. “If you’re not there showing up at the parking lot for the 5K on a Wednesday, that person’s running alone.” That presence is a service, and it goes both ways. You think you’re there for someone else, he says, then end up getting what you didn’t know you needed.
It’s a unique thing that happens when you work out and do hard things with other people. The community aspect benefits everybody, especially the folks who think ‘I’m doing this for somebody else.
– Michael “Sully” Sullivan
Most recently, Team RWB teamed up with wear blue: run to remember for One Flag Forward, a five-day, 250-mile relay carrying the American flag from Ground Zero to Washington, D.C. Sully was one of three runners who covered every mile. “We wanted to honor the service and sacrifice of our heroes over the last 250 years, as well their family.”
ExpertVoice was at the start and the finish, cheering the team on as a sponsor. With help from Brooks Running and Skratch Labs, we kept the three full-route runners in fresh shoes and everyone hydrated along the way.
Team RWB is free and open to everyone — veterans, service members, military families and civilian supporters. Civilians get just as much out of it, Sully says, and veterans get “a local link to the greater community.”
Nervous to take the first step? “Showing up is the hardest part,” says Sully. “During service, you were challenged to do very hard things. The key was you had people doing them with you and leading you through it.” Team RWB offers that too, he added, but with a lot more fun and a lot less pressure.
Sign Up NowTeam Semper Fi (TSF) is the sports program for the Semper Fi & America’s Fund, a nonprofit assisting critically wounded, ill and injured service members, veterans and their families. Built on the mantra “recovery through sport,” TSF extends the Fund’s support by connecting members with everything from skiing to golf to Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
TSF hosts activity-focused events year-round and handles the logistics, adaptive gear and coaching, so you can go all in on a sport you love or try something new — with a community in your corner.
Jon Lujan knows what TSF offers because he’s lived it. Injured in Iraq in 2003, he found his way back to skiing through the Fund, raced on the U.S. Paralympic Ski Team and competed in the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, where he was chosen as a flag bearer. Today, he’s the Fund’s Senior Manager of Sports Programs, leading TSF’s winter sports.
TSF began when wounded service members asked the Fund for help running a 5K, revealing what many were missing: a way to keep moving and competing.
All of us were physically fit and active before we got injured. When you take that away, it takes a part of who you are. Being able to give that power back to veterans is so vital and empowering.
– Jon Lujan
TSF gives veterans a path back in, on their own terms. “Our goal is to find a sport you like and support your progress in it.” Jon says it can be as simple as guiding a member through something new, or as big as helping an athlete reach the national stage.
What makes TSF special is “all you have to do is show up and participate,” says Jon. TSF travels to veterans’ communities nearly every week, making it easy to attend and connect with others nearby. Events run a day or several, with TSF handling it all from start to finish.
Most events center on one sport and welcome all skill levels, with advanced members mentoring newcomers. “Sports samplers” offer five activities over three days, while advanced-only camps serve experienced athletes.
Bigger events draw members from across the country, like the PTSD Century Hike, a 100-mile trek that takes place in a new city each year.
Jon finds many members discover activities they never would have tried on their own. “Any sport you can think of that doesn’t involve weapons, we’ll support,” he says. If there isn’t an event for it, TSF will plan one or link you with a local organization that specializes in it.
For Jon, the best part is the change he sees in members. Some arrive hanging on the sidelines and go home with lifelong friends. It happens fast, he says, because of what they share. “Meeting a group of veterans, you have an innate, instant trust, because you’ve all been through something similar.” He sees it often: show up as a stranger, leave as part of a community.
Just hearing the camaraderie that happens around the campfire, out on a boat, the slopes, at dinner — it’s just cool to sit back and watch and see the magic happen and friendships developing.
– Jon Lujan
TSF is open to those who receive support from the Fund. Talk to your case manager about joining, or check with the Fund to see if you qualify for assistance. Not eligible? You can still get involved as a volunteer.
Learn MoreFrom all of us at ExpertVoice, thank you to every veteran, service member and military family for what you’ve given. We’re proud to support the organizations that support you.
