Honored American Veterans Afield: Long-Range Trigger Therapy

HAVA’s inaugural long-range school was a smashing success.

Some veterans’ organizations shy away from guns and hunting. Not HAVA.

Honored American Veterans Afield (HAVA) is a nonprofit organization formed by companies in the shooting and outdoor industry to raise awareness and further assist disabled veterans with their healing processes. Unlike some other veterans’ assistance programs, HAVA offers guided hunts, shooting events, and other outdoor sports activities as a way to help veterans get back to the activities they love…or find new ones. Their latest news is a brand-new long-range shooter training program, which just launched in October in Leesburg, Florida, through HAVA’s Learn to Shoot Again (LTSA) division. What makes LTSA stand out from the rest is that it’s taught by people facing physical challenges, for people facing the same. Severely injured training instructors teach advanced shooting skills to reconnect their wounded students (also typically with severe injuries) with outdoor activities that they may have enjoyed pre-injury. Their inaugural class trained 11 injured veterans to shoot effectively out to 900 yards.

“Long range shooting skills are just one of the lessons that our LTSA instructors bring to these students who deserve everything that we can do to inspire and assist in their recovery,” said HAVA Chairman Tom Taylor. “The fact that our instructors have each personally gone through the re-habilitation process after the loss of a limb or other severe injury is a real-life example for the student that recovery from tragedy is possible, and that the best part of life may still be in their future. We believe that our efforts can make the ultimate difference with a disabled veteran who might otherwise not be able to fulfill their long-term potential for happiness.”

Shooters with injuries like hand amputations, inoperable hands, broken backs, shoulder reconstructions, traumatic brain injuries, and other significant issues learned the skills of a long-range shooter — but more importantly that they could still learn a fun new skill despite their challenging injuries. These are the lessons that LTSA teaches which helps these American heroes to be more optimistic about their future. Thanks to product donations from Sig Sauer, Savage, DPMS, Kestrel, Daniel Defense, Vortex, Leupold and others, the students have access to the best equipment to accelerate their learning curve.

If you’re interested in donating to (or benefiting from) HAVA’s programs, visit them here.