Distinctly Montana Magazine

72 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 6 "I know it is applicable, but I'm not a big fan of the word 'trau- ma,'" says Luke Urick, U.S. Marine Corps scout sniper and co-founder of the Montana Vet Program (MVP). "That term really does become an issue for big, macho guys and gals who have been told their whole lives not to show weakness, and now they come home with this conflict and guilt and rage and a slew of other emotions that they don't know what to do with." Urick, a Belt native, served from 2003 to 2012, completing three combat tours. When he returned home to Montana to pursue his bachelor's degree in psychology, he found himself working at a veterans' center during a period when veteran suicide rates were skyrocketing. "I saw the inner workings of how the VA was tackling mental health," Urick recalls. "I've had probably four or five counselors in my time, and never once did they ask me what my diet, sleep, or physical training routine was like. They never gave me a tan- gible exercise to turn off my fight-or-flight response." Along with fellow USMC scout snipers Joe Miller and Scott Moss, Urick founded MVP in 2016 on the premise that mental health is but a component of overall wellness, and that veterans have all the tools they need to heal themselves. Instead of being treated like patients, veterans need to be treated as warriors who haven't yet learned how to find their mission at home. "Veterans aren't killing themselves because they have a broken arm. They're killing themselves because they have a broken heart," Urick says. "They feel they are a burden to their family, and they believe that by taking their own life, they can relieve their loved ones of that burden." STRENGTH IS FORGED WHERE COMFORT ENDS MVP's approach to achieving wellness isn't through the erad- ication of hardship and struggles. In fact, the organization de- fines its motto, "Suffer Well," as "the gracious acceptance of the day's pain and the dignified willingness to endure it." To achieve this goal, MVP leads small groups of veterans on multi-day Veteran-Led Therapeutic Adventure Trips (VLTATs) into the Montana backcountry, offering a rugged, unconven- tional, and deeply effective program to help them reclaim their lives by pushing them to their limits. These co-ed trips take veterans into the most remote parts of Montana—the Bob Marshall Wilderness, the Beartooths, the Crazies, and the Little Belts, to name a few. For non-ambulatory veterans or those with significant physical disabilities, MVP uti- lizes the idyllic Smith River. Participants might cover miles of blowdown trees and dozens of creek crossings in the rain. "By day two, everyone is exhaust- THE CRISP MOUNTAIN AIR SWIRLS AND LEAVING YOU WITH THE PRIMAL REMINDER THAT YOU ARE Team Leader Joe Miller talks with veterans around the final-night campfire on VLTAT 23-4—where stories land, and the pace finally slows.

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