Mighty Oaks Book Release! Path To Resiliency

Chad Robichaux and Jeremy Stalnecker are excited to announce the release of their new book, “The Path to Resiliency”, and are so honored by the foreword included by Major General Bob Dees, US Army (Retired), Author of The Resilience Trilogy and Founder of the Institute for Military Resilience, Liberty University. The Path to Resiliency was written to challenge the greatest of Warriors, whether military or civilian, man or woman… to be ready for, resilient to, and able to reintegrate from life’s trials and rigors.
Chad and Jeremy have had tremendous success in leading the Mighty Oaks Warrior Program to help struggling combat veterans facing the unseen wounds of war to find hope, healing, and purpose beyond their trauma. This book will share their secrets so we can take the same principles used to heal our Warrior’s spiritual wounds and apply them to our lives so that we will be prepared, stronger and spiritually resilient to all this world will throw at us.
While the book is for sale to the public, we will be donating The Path to Resiliency in bulk to military commands, chaplains and service members as a guide and resource to make our military men and women truly resilient in Mind, Body and Spirit.
A note from one of the authors, Chad Robichaux:
You don’t have to go to Iraq or Afghanistan to face hardships and trails in life, military service member or not, we all find ourselves in moments of adversity and hardship from time to time. When you do, will you have the resiliency to overcome those times, or will you falter, will you have what it takes to bounce back? The intent of this book is to share with you the lessons we have learned by working with many combat veterans at Mighty Oaks Warrior Programs (MOWP), by not only leading them to restoration, hope and a new purpose, but finding the strength to be truly resilient to every hardship this world might throw at us.
Supporters of our service members continually ask me, “Why has this generation suffered so much more from PTSD than other generations?” My answer to that question has changed over the years. Initially, I would have said it was related to the increased frequency of deployments and the longer duration of being under constant threat, as well as a lack of clarity as to who the enemy might be in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. However, I have seen that those were not actually the main reasons. I have heard numerous testimonies and even personally witnessed those who have seen the same rigors of war, yet returned from combat either unaffected or with a new maturity. What is the difference in these people? The answer is Spiritual Resiliency, which is a critical complement to resilience in the physical, mental, emotional, and relational domains.
Since the birth of MOWP in 2011, there has been a continuing question, “What will MOWP do when the War on Terror ends?” This question has never swayed us to change the focus and vision, as we were birthed and operated, as a call from God to serve the broken-hearted Warriors of our nation. However, over the years I have seen growth and evolution of our programs, while doors open to reach Warriors that I never could have imagined possible. In the early days of Mighty Oaks we only reached non-active duty veterans of recent wars. God is now blowing the doors open of the active duty military by sending Warriors to us from the various branches on official military orders. This has created a whole new approach to how we care for those we are entrusted with. Now, not only are we serving veterans who will never deploy again to a war zone, but we are being entrusted with those who will face the rigors of war again. These changes moved us from solely focusing on “Post Combat Trauma Care” to also providing “Resiliency Training.”
To reach more active duty members through Mighty Oaks, we had to relook at what we did, how we did it, and how we communicated to military leadership. We had to align our messaging with the needs of the military’s efforts to be a sustainable and effective combat institution. By early 2015, we found ourselves highly utilized by all branches of the military for resiliency conferences by units returning from and deploying to combat theaters. We also were asked to conduct presentations at regular training evolutions for combat readiness, ranging from Special Operations Pre-Deployment Resiliency Conferences, to Spiritual Resiliency presentations, to presenting to thousands of recruits at USMC Boot Camps.
Why would Mighty Oaks be looked at as a resource for combat resiliency? The reason is simple…through the methodologies we have used at Mighty Oaks and the evaluation of those who have experienced combat, we have discovered that the very same methods we use to “heal” PTSD are equally effective if implemented prior to traumatic events such as those experienced in combat. This makes MOWP not only an effective post-combat program but also a pre-combat program using a methodology we would simply refer to as “Spiritual Resiliency.”
Spiritual resiliency is nothing new to the military. The military ethos has always embodied such traits known to make the greatest of warriors with emphasis on “The 3-Pillars of Resiliency – Mind, Body, Spirit.” However, with increased restrictions in recent years for the military chaplaincy, fewer religious freedoms among service members, and a redefining of what “Spirit” actually means, we believe we have witnessed a significant blow on the spiritual resiliency of our service members.
Of the 2.6 million veterans of the War on Terror, approximately 50% face some sort of physical, mental, or spiritual wound from their service. Many are receiving clinical diagnoses of PTSD, leaving our military leaders scratching their heads as to why. The inability of the military and Veteran’s Administration to put a finger on the problem costs millions of dollars and continued failed attempts at clinical care has left a wake of destruction marked in blood and destroyed legacies and families. We are still facing devastating statistics such as 22 suicides per day and a staggering number of veterans leaving their families in divorce.
There are nearly 23 million veterans in America. Instead of our nation’s leaders and heroes coming home to be leaders and pillars of their community, far too many are settling to be government dependents of 100% PTSD retirements, or worse, engaging in criminal behaviors or ending it all with suicide. There is another option for these amazing heroes and leaders, that option is to do something important again, to lead again and be the pillars of society we need in our homes, communities and in this nation. That begins with the resilient spirit of a true Warrior.
Are YOU ready to take a journey with us to find the Path to Resiliency?
BUY Path To Resiliency now!
Chad M. Robichaux,
Founder & President – Mighty Oaks Foundation