“We Don't Come from Weak People:” Warriors & Quiet Waters' Veterans Fly Fishing Mission

One often-overlooked hardship of war is the challenge of transitioning back to civilian life. Service members involved in combat situations live in a high-adrenaline, fight-or-flight, lizard-brain state of mind on an extended basis, which can seriously affect anyone. Even those without particularly traumatic experiences can feel a void when working a 9-to-5 behind a computer screen after living 24-7 in a war zone. Too often, this void is filled with drugs and alcohol in an attempt to replace the dopamine, endorphins, and norepinephrine that coursed through their brains. Anxiety and depression can take hold, leading to considering the unthinkable.

But the veteran community is strong. The intense bonds formed while serving carry over into civilian life, and these brothers and sisters look out for each other. Which is why there are so many veterans’ organizations whose missions are to provide respite, recovery, and resilience in some way. You’ve maybe read in these pages about groups like Project Healing Waters, Restoration, Inc., Discover Courage, the Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Armed Forces Initiative, and Veterans Expeditions. Even the recent silver screen production Mending the Line addresses veterans’ issues through outdoor recreation and fly fishing.

Enter Bozeman, Montana–based Warriors & Quiet Waters (WQW). This 501(c)(3) Veterans Impact Organization is dedicated to empowering post-9/11 combat veterans and their loved ones, to help them thrive through nature-based experiences and guided personal growth. Their programs, including fly fishing, archery hunting, and photography “tracks,” provide transformative outdoor experiences that foster connection, resilience, and a renewed sense of purpose. Founded in 2007 by Col. Eric Hastings, the organization has evolved to offer its flagship program Built for More, which combines immersive outdoor experiences with online learning to support veterans in their post-service journeys.

Built for More

WQW’s Built for More program emphasizes that there is life after serving one’s country. Veterans sometimes feel a lack of purpose once retired from active duty, and this loss can be a major factor in mental health and addiction issues. This is largely what Built for More is meant to address.

Built for More is the organization’s cornerstone program and culminates in what they call “peak nature experiences” (aka “initial and capstone experiences”) with WQW’s fly-fishing track, bowhunting track, or photography track. It is a nine-month-long program, starting with the at-home preparation phase, followed by five days in person at the organization’s 112-acre Quiet Waters Ranch in the Bridger Mountain foothills, called the “initial experience.”

From there, participants, called Warriors, enter the discovery phase, in which they are coached via online group sessions and have one-on-one sessions in which a program facilitator and a Warrior engage in real talk about building resilience, understanding their mission and path forward, and ultimately defining their post-service purpose. Within WQW’s holistic (mind, body, and spirit) program are talks about nutrition, exercise, spiritual fitness, social fitness, and more. This discovery phase takes place over several months to build strong relationships and fellowship.

Then comes the “capstone experience,” in which Warriors rejoin in person with their cohort (their small group of Warriors who stay as a group throughout) for an immersive, week-long experience in nature. Montana’s Smith River—with a permit-only, four- or five-day float trip through a remote, 60-mile-long limestone-walled canyon—serves as one of WQW’s most coveted locations for its capstone program. The Smith is renowned for its wildlife, scenery, trout, and hatches. The setting offers an opportunity for the Warriors to detach from the pressures of post-military life, due to limited cell coverage and a lack of people and outside-world influence—the only people are fellow float permit holders. The only cultural elements are campsites with signs, fire rings, and many archaeological sites with ancient pictographs, including a cave high up on the canyon wall overlooking the river.

And none of this costs the Warriors a dime.

“My first Warriors & Quiet Waters experience saved my life,” Army veteran and WQW alum Marcus Ziegler wrote in a WQW blog post.

Ziegler, now a fishing podcaster, sustained a traumatic brain injury when his Stryker vehicle was hit by an IED in Afghanistan on September 19, 2011. His injury severely impacted his long- and short-term memory, causing him to forget everyday details, and even significant moments from his daughter’s early years. The memory loss and emotional toll led to anxiety, depression, and isolation—until he found healing through WQW and fly fishing.

“After my first fishing experience in 2017, I experienced the joy of connecting to nature in ways that improved my future,” he wrote. “Now when times get hard I can close my eyes and find myself floating on the river and catching a beautiful brown trout. I can then tell myself everything is okay and I can get through this . . . When I’m on the water, I have no worries. All of my focus goes into what’s going on around me. The breeze, the smell of the salt, the variety of shorebirds, and what the fish are doing. I find myself coming home more willing to open up to my wife and be fully present with my daughter—happy and clear-headed.”

Click here to get on the Built for More waitlist. 

Anti-Fragility and Pragmatic Optimism

One theme of the program is resilience, which can mean many things and come in many forms. CEO Brian Gilman, Colonel, USMC (Ret.), himself a post-9/11 combat veteran and former Chief of Staff of the Marine Forces Special Operations Command, uses the word “anti-fragility” when he speaks about resilience. He returned from Iraq with his own struggles and traumas, including witnessing the deaths of five friends and the losses of innocent civilian lives. He’s open about his experiences with his fellow veterans.

“Adversity is a significant part of the human experience,” Gilman explained to a cohort of Warriors. “Bad things happen to good people all the time. We have no control over what happens to us. What matters most is how we respond to what happens to us.”

He continued: “What I fear is that the responses to adversity that many of our institutions or journalists or thought leaders who are idolized today are the wrong choices . . . I know it because combat veterans going through our Warriors & Quiet Waters programs have told me that their therapists and clinical providers they’re seeing for post-traumatic stress have told them that they will need therapy and medication for the rest of their lives because of the trauma they experienced in combat. In effect, these therapists are telling combat veterans that they are broken for life. I refuse to believe that our species, the apex species on the planet, is that fragile.”

Gilman views the human species as inherently strong and resilient, as evidenced by the fact that our ancestors had to survive in a world in which we were not always the top dog. He relayed the anecdote of a family, 20,000 years ago, out hunting when a saber-tooth tiger pounces and drags away the grandmother (we know this happened, he says, because of remnants of skulls with puncture wounds). He posits that because traumatic events such as that did not do us in as a species, neither do events on the modern-day battlefield.

“Homo sapiens have walked the Earth for over 300,000 years . . . For 96 percent of the time we have existed as a species on this planet we lived as hunters and gatherers where we were active participants in the wilderness ecosystem and all the daily hazards that that entailed. Do you think that we would have survived as a species and thrived to become the planet’s apex species if traumatic experiences like that crippled us for life?”

WQW’s capstone experiences in Montana’s wilderness can provide a connection to and reminder of the resilience that we evolved with.

“I think we should be striving for anti-fragility,” Gilman said. “Anti-fragility is the ability to grow stronger and thrive as a result of adversity. Anti-fragility is the ability to become stronger because of the trials we face. As I mentioned before, I spend a lot of time in Montana’s backcountry, and when I think of something that’s anti-fragile, I think of the pine trees that I see on the high alpine ridges. The wind constantly blows strong and hard in these places. The way that these pine trees have adapted to the environments they live in as they grow abnormally large trunks and root systems and their branches grow in the direction of the prevailing winds. They grow to become stronger because of the daily adversity that they face.”

Another theme is what Gilman calls pragmatic optimism: “Accepting the world for what it is and acknowledging the challenges that we face, while also expecting progress through those challenges with hard work and perseverance.” Being honest with ourselves about our expectations of life’s ups and downs, while also being honest with ourselves about our strengths. And remembering that humans are social animals, and our tribe is here for us. Focusing on the importance of taking care of ourselves, spiritually, physically, and socially. We are not as fragile as much of our society would have us believe.

“I think we can all use a reminder of how strong we really are,” Gilman said.

From Combat to Canyon Streams

Fly fishing has been called the quiet sport due to its calming, introspective, and muted nature, which is why it’s great for people recovering from military-related trauma and/or post-traumatic stress. While WQW is far from the first organization to recognize this, it’s likely one of the best at providing a true wilderness experience in one of the fishiest places on the planet.

During the week-long “initial experience,” Warriors fish places like the three trout ponds at Quiet Waters Ranch, a trophy trout ranch pond in the Tobacco Roots, and a narrow, difficult-to-access stream called Legacy Canyon.

A typical fishing day at WQW starts with a talk about “recreation for a purpose.” Members then break out into their guided groups (with licensed Montana fishing guides) and spend time getting acquainted with the gear, and each other. Guides explain things like how a higher number tippet is actually thinner in diameter, how monofilament is different than fluorocarbon, nymphs versus drys versus emergers, knots, what those little balls (strike indicators) do, what our Montana rivers are like, basic entomology, trout behavior, and more. The Warriors share fish stories from days past as they get acquainted.

A key element for WQW is that the staff wants the Warriors to be able to continue using the outdoors time for reflection and quieting of the mind, both for themselves and their tribes, at home.

“Getting these folks outside is not only providing them some peace in challenging environments, but they also then take their friends and family and spread the word that nature is a pretty neat place, and everybody should be enjoying it,” said Jesse LeNeve, director of program operations. “We work on making sure that this experience isn’t about necessarily this particular week, but how to take it home and apply it on home waters.”

He said they’ve actually had newbie anglers become fishing guides and one—the aforementioned Ziegler—even started a fishing podcast called Trailer Trash Fly Fishing. These stories demonstrate the program’s success.

Dr. Lisa Maxwell, Lt. Col., U.S. Army (Ret.), a former trauma surgeon who served in active combat overseas and a current Warrior in the Built for More program, uses fly fishing to quiet the noise.

“I don’t have to worry about yesterday or tomorrow,” she said. “Fishing is just tremendously therapeutic for me.”

She’s also found that it gives her a sense of purpose. “People who have a career in the Army are used to always having a mission or a goal they’re striving for,” she told me. “And it’s easy to get lost. It’s a very difficult transition . . . But there is no peak in fly fishing that you reach, you know. There’s always improvements.”

Staff and Volunteers

The sense of community is palpable during Built for More in-person experiences. Moods are good, and fellowship, support, and warmth are ubiquitous from the Warriors, the staff, and the “moms.”

Who are the moms, you ask?

The affectionately named moms are volunteers who prepare home-cooked meals, facilitate conversations, and provide the all-important feelings of safety and trust. They are the glue, or the “secret sauce,” as it was described to me; the caretakers who give abundant hugs and provide the warmth needed for the Warriors to open up and be vulnerable—in a way that stays in Montana and that they likely wouldn’t be able to do in their day-to-day lives back home. This is a crucial part of the healing.

Staff like U.S. Army veteran Katie Megahee, DPT and Larry Weidinger, Command Sgt. Maj., U.S. Army (Ret.), both program facilitators and Built for More alumni, are also instrumental, in part because they speak the language and know the military mindset. There are tons of esoteric terms and acronyms, along with a culture of beliefs, attitudes, and values within the U.S. armed forces—outsiders can be met with a degree of skepticism. The credibility that comes from having served supports the trusting environment and community.

Megahee is also a wellness coach, teaching about how nutrition can affect mental health, and vice-versa, and how the gut microbiome influences things like inflammation in the body and quality of sleep. It’s all part of WQW’s holistic approach.

Then there is LeNeve, a former Montana fishing guide himself, who brings credibility to the outdoors side of the Built for More program. He takes pride in being able to share this pastime with the Warriors.

“Teaching all aspects of fly fishing and guiding a client to good trout water, knots, fly tying, how to rig a rod, how to read water,” he said. “Working with other companies to research their areas, home waters [the Warriors] can seek out, going to fly shops and advising them to go into fly shops and talk to fly shop people and learn about their area. So I really like that aspect of slowing it down and more understanding for the long-term commitment it takes for fly fishing, to really enjoy it.”

LeNeve and the Program Operations team coordinate the guides, find the fisheries, and ultimately ensure the Warriors have the best chance at catching fish—and more importantly, become inspired to fall in love with the calm and peace found in the sport.

The staff, in turn, find purpose in their work.

“I get to live my purpose every day,” Megahee told me.

Ultimately, WQW and its Built for More program aim to “empower veterans to find strength in nature, pursue continuous growth, and build resiliency.

“If you talk to a Navy SEAL, they’ll tell you that it wasn’t the star athletes, and it wasn’t the smartest candidates who became SEALs,” Gilman said. “But they’ll tell you that the number one discriminator of who made it and who didn’t make it was mindset.”

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Josh Bergan is the digital editor at Fly Fisherman.

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