SALUTE TO SERVICE: TEAM RED, WHITE AND BLUE

SALUTE TO SERVICE TEAM RED, WHITE & BLUE

Team RWB — or Team Red, White, and Blue — is a national, nonprofit organization with local chapters that aim to help veterans enrich their lives through exercise, community events, and general camaraderie. When service members are discharged or retire, they’re often left without structure or the community feeling that they’d grown accustom to through service. And for those that thrived on the physical aspect of service or the fellowship, the tasks of getting back into exercising or finding new community can be daunting. Petra Roush is Team RWB Clarksville/Fort Campbell’s communications director, as well as the leader of other events for the team throughout the year. For the last 13 years, she’s worked on Fort Campbell in human resources. In her role with Team RWB, she welcomes in new team members and keeps them informed on what activities are available for that week. The national organization’s vision is to forge America’s leading health and wellness community for veterans. But as Roush explains, health and wellness are not just physical — they’re also mental and emotional. “The physical work is out there getting the exercise, doing the CrossFit and runs, but the mind comes in with knowing when to rest your body, when to hydrate, and proper eating habits,” Roush told VIP.

Along with hosting weekly physical activities — like walking, jogging, cycling, and rucking just to name a few — the local chapter of Team RWB also partners with Clarksville Parks & Recreation and Fort Campbell MWR for events. “We just reach out to all of the communities and say, ‘What do you have going on because we could help your event and you can help us with an event so we’re not double-lapping and reinventing the wheel as we call it.’ So if you’ve got an event out there that you need people to come to, we’ve got the people that would want to go,” Roush explained. Additionally, you don’t have to be a veteran to join Team RWB — anyone is allowed to become a team member. Throughout the year, Team RWB members also partake in physical challenges. One of those is the Old Glory Relay, in which members volunteer to walk, ruck, run, push, and cycle a single American flag from Washington, D.C. to The World Games in Birmingham, Alabama. This year, the flag was run through 15 states. “I got to run the flag last year, and on the final day I ran it in with Team RWB Founder Mike Irwin in Nashville to Bridgestone Arena with other Eagle members. I get very emotional about it because all of the hands that moved that flag, and I got to be one of them,” Roush said. She also competed in one of Team RWB’s most physically demanding challenges — the Taji 100, which challenges participants to walk, jog, run, or elliptical at least 100 miles during the month of February. Some do more, including Roush who this year placed 8th in the world and completed a total of 404.4 miles in February. Jimmy Wiesner, Team RWB Clarksville/Fort Campbell leader, logged 526 miles, placing 5th in the world. While there’s a plethora of physical activities to get involved with, the team is also dedicated to community service. Roush joined Team RWB six years ago, and said that while the physical activity helped, it was the community service aspect that kept her “Eagle Fire” lit for Team RWB. “When I got my heart and my mind right, my body followed, so I became very physically active but I was also doing social and community services. With RWB, that may mean getting out there with YAIPak, or doing the outreach,” Roush said, adding that they also are involved in supporting Manna Café and the Wounded Warrior Project. This double-pronged approach to creating a more fulfilling life for veterans and community members alike also bridges the gap between military and civilian life. “We are a team — we support each other and making aware that you are never alone on your journey. We come from all walks of life with our own stories and troubles and triumphs, but we come together united, strong, and willing for one another as well.”

To get involved with Team RWB, visit www.teamrwb.org or download their app for updates on events and more!

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