By Sgt. Kristina Kranz, Wyoming National Guard
It was an overcast and drizzly Saturday for Staff Sgt. Felicia Holbrook and her soldier Pfc. Brandon Miller.
Holbrook is a recruiter in the Wyoming Army National Guard’s Recruiting and Retention Battalion. Miller is one of her Recruit Sustainment Program soldiers. The two arrived at the Mirrored K Legacy Ranch in Jay Em, Wyoming, to start their day helping clean out the horse barn in preparation for Operation Remount.
The ranch is owned by Kelly Alexander and Operation Remount — a six-week program that pairs participants with a wild mustang — is run by him and his family. Alexander is a veteran who served over 20 years in the Army and Army National Guard. The program stemmed from his own experience with post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as multiple traumatic brain injuries.
After trying several different programs to get treatment, he came across a program in Texas called Veterans and Mustangs, through the Mustang Heritage Foundation. It was there that he found the tools needed to find the way back to his normal self.
“When it comes to heart, mustangs have it, hands down.” Alexander says. He wants to duplicate his experience and allow veterans who suffer from traumatic issues like PTSD to find their way back as he did.
Wild mustangs also experience trauma when they have to be pulled away from their herds, placed in crowded pens and immunized. There’s a shared type of experience between participant and mustang, which helps in the healing process. They work to build a trusting and bonding relationship through one on one training.
Operation Remount is funded entirely by donations and is free to veterans and first responders who participate. There are some expenses participants must pay for themselves in the beginning, but in the future, the Alexanders want everything to be covered.
At the recent cleanup, there were originally supposed to be several other recruit soldiers and cadets from the Wyoming Cowboy Challenge Academy to help out, but only Holbrook and Miller were able to make it.
Holbrook herself is an experienced equine handler and will be volunteering her own time to help teach classes at Operation Remount. She recently started her own business called Shade Tree Equine and Canine Massage.
“I’m a little bit nervous,” Holbrook said. “It will be my first time taking what I’ve learned and showing it to others.”
Holbrook is using these types of opportunities to volunteer to help her recruit sustainment soldiers during their time with the Recruiting and Retention Battalion. Soldiers who enlist and have a while before they ship out to Basic Combat Training (BCT) participate in the Recruit Sustainment Program, which is treated like a regular part-time drill with the Guard. They learn basic soldiering skills that prepare them for their training.
“The Recruit Sustainment Program is highly encouraged to volunteer in their community, and we don’t always get the opportunity to do that,” Holbrook says. “I want these kids to understand that even if your military family is retired, they still might need help, and this is an opportunity to volunteer with a great program.”
Efforts like Operation Remount provide opportunities for soldiers and anyone else who wants to find a way to give back to their community.
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