The word "community" is often used, whether it refers to where you live, or a cheesy line often used by employers to describe their workplace environment. The community within the Armed Forces Initiative isn't just a buzzword. It's a place where you belong, where veterans, active-duty service members, and other members of our military community come together through the common pursuits of hunting, angling, and conservation. Our camps and events are not just gatherings but opportunities to connect, creating a profound sense of belonging and camaraderie through shared military and hunting experiences. It's an experience that I have been fortunate enough to experience firsthand over the past few years. As one attends these camps in a certain region, one begins to wonder how far our community goes; this past October, I got to experience the true testament to the AFI community when I traveled to Wyoming for our priority landscape event focusing on the short grass prairie ecosystem.

In late spring, I received a phone call inviting me to participate in a camp that would take me nearly 2000 miles from Connecticut to Wyoming for a unique hunting experience. Having spent my entire hunting career in New England, I was thrilled at the prospect of venturing into the West to hunt pronghorns. The idea of heading into an entirely new territory thousands of miles away from home for a new type of hunt can be intimidating. However, it's in these moments that the AFI community truly shines, offering a wealth of knowledge and learning opportunities. The environment it creates through members with diverse experiences and their willingness to teach and educate those new to something is invaluable. This culture of teaching in our mutual shared experiences for service helps alleviate some of the stress that comes with learning a new hunt.

Having the right gear is one of the most significant barriers to getting involved in any outdoor activity. With the support of sponsors like Bass Pro Shops, the AFI community overcomes this hurdle by providing the necessary camping equipment and rifles. Many of us, me included, could not have headed west without this support. Thanks to Bass Pro, our camp was equipped with everything needed for a successful week. The camp kitchen, where everyone gathers to connect and plan, is arguably the most essential part of the camp. At camp, you can feel the uniqueness of what is happening. Active duty and vets, sailors and airmen, are all connecting on life and their love for the hunt. That mood is contagious in the best way possible.

Morale was high as we started the week. For the next few mornings, we headed out ready to make the most success of our days. We were thankful because almost every day, somebody had success, and you could feel the collective happiness as a message popped up in the group chat saying there was one down. Every day, as we returned to camp, people cheered each other on who had yet to be successful and went over every detail of the hunts, successful or not. As participants began to tag out, everyone became focused on helping those who hadn't yet been successful. Folks ran supplies at midday to those in the field or scouted the area for potential opportunities; thanks to that, we finished the week as one of the most successful AFI camps.

On the day before the last day of hunting, I was able to finally fill my tag, and one of the first thoughts that popped into my head was how excited I was to let the rest of the guys know that I had a pronghorn down. While I was incredibly thankful for tagging out, I was more grateful for sharing the experience with these guys. Returning to camp, everyone is busy and is excited to hear about the day. As we get to the business of prepping meat for travel and cleaning up camp, you can tell the mood is slowly changing. Everyone is starting to get sad because we know we are all headed out the following day. Spending that last night around the camp kitchen, you hear the plans being hatched for future AFI events and guys meeting up for hunts down the road. At the end of the day, these experiences are what these camps are all about: learning how to enjoy the outdoors while connecting with folks with whom you will have lifelong connections.