New Warrior Training Adventure

I’m a Vietnam veteran who attended the ManKind Project's New Warrior Training Adventure in February of 2010 in the New England community.

When I returned from Vietnam I was told by my father, who was a Marine combat WWII veteran, I should never talk about my experience in Vietnam. He also told me it was what a man needs to do. To bury his feelings and protect others from the horrors of war. I believed him and proceeded to stuff those emotions deeply away. They remained hidden in my subconscious festering for over 40 years until, through the guidance of the highly trained and skilled staff at the NWTA, helped me identify and bring those feelings to the surface, to express them and release the anger associated with them. Going through that process brought an amazing sense of relief and inner peace for me after keeping it hidden for so long! After the NWTA, looking back, I realized what a profound impact it had on my life and in that experience I learned a very important lesson. As a man, how important expressing, being aware of and understanding our feelings is a powerful tool for our self discovery and growth.

I am now an active member and enjoy being a part of the ManKind Project and have become an regular member of a local igroup . In all, The ManKind Project has now become an integral part of my life. I highly recommend to veterans and any man to attend an NWTA and becoming a member of the ManKind Project. You will be happy you did!

I was very reluctant about attending the NWTA earlier this year. I didn't think that I had any issues to work on. It was highly recommended that I attend a weekend to help me relate to others and to help me strengthen my marriage. After arriving at the weekend, it was everything I could do...not to gather my stuff and leave the first night. I was very uncomfortable and didn't really think that I belonged there. I was miserable. By the end of the next night, I felt a new sense of being that I had never felt before! I was so glad that I stuck to it! By the time we were checking out on the last day, I was so sad to leave. I felt that I had grown close to all of the men and hated for the weekend to end!
About IGroup

Our IGroup meets a couple of days per month. Every gathering is something special. We have grown very close, but still learn so much from one another at every meeting! It's a very special time.

We all have dreams. We all have desires. We all do the best we can - with what we've got ... At the age of 47 I felt that I was doing a pretty good job. I have a pretty happy family, and lead and manage my staff pretty well. This weekend gave me a new lease on life! A new desire! A new drive! A new ambition! A new vision! I feel invigorated with a new energy, a drive and desire for more, for better, for me, for my family, for my community and for my business!

I found my path to masculine initiation through The ManKind Project™ (http://www.mkp.org/) and their New Warrior Training Adventure™, a 3-day experiential process that took me on a guided, adventurous, and dangerous journey of masculine initiation. That process of initiation - and years of subsequent involvement with a community of men willing to claim their names, identify their missions and live them, and - most importantly - be open to the challenges of healing their wounds has had, outside of my turning my life over to, and being born again in, Christ, the most significant impact on my life above anything else.

The NWTA was a true awakening for me. I touched a part of my shadow, the parts of me which I hid, repressed, and denied for most of my life. I also developed a mission that has been refined and expanded over the past six years and which led me to help form Boys to Men Mentoring of Georgia, a non-profit corporation that recruits, trains, and supports men to mentor at-risk teenage boys.