Scott DeLuzio: [00:00:00] You’ve been carrying that weight for a while. The stress, anxiety, the never ending noise in your head. The usual coping tools aren’t working like they used to. They just seem to add more stress. And so you need something different. Something that clears your mind, studies your focus, and gives you back that sense of control.

And there’s archery. The moment you draw the boing back. Everything else fades away. Today’s guest, Sam Westfall, is Living Proof how Archery can be a game changer for veterans battling PTSD. Stress and transition struggles. A former army tank mechanic, Sam found himself in a dark place after service until he picked up a bow.

Now he’s helping fellow veterans discover the therapeutic power of archery through the Valor Archery Challenge, and Archery N Motion. But before we dive into this episode, make sure you’re subscribed to the email newsletter at Drive On Podcast dot com slash subscribe. You’ll get my five favorite episodes sent straight here, inbox no fluff, just the best insights to help you drive on.

I also want to take a moment to [00:01:00] raise awareness for something deeply important to our community, the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation. This organization is working to build a permanent national memorial in Washington DC to honor the service members, families, and civilians impacted by the global war on terrorism.

This memorial serves as both a tribute to those who served and a way to ensure that their sacrifices are recognized and remembered for generations to come. If you wanna learn more or find out how you can support the mission, visit GWOT GWOT memorial foundation.org. Now, let’s get into today’s episode.

Sam, welcome to the show. Really glad to have you here. I’m looking forward to this conversation. We were, we were talking a little bit before we started recording here, and you know, really, really interested in what it is that [00:02:00] you, you guys are doing, and I’m, I’m looking forward to find out a little bit more about it.

Sam Westfall: All right, Scott, thank you very again. Again, thank you very much for having me.

It’s gonna

be a fun conversation.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, I think so. So let’s, let’s just jump right into it. Tell us a little bit more about Archery N Motion and the Valor Archery Challenge and, and what, maybe we can take it a step back before we get into those. What got you into archery? Kind of what was your path and, and how did that end up getting to what you’re doing now?

Sam Westfall: So we’re gonna go for a, a quick little, long story short as best I can do it by

age 12. I was into hunting big game hunting here in Colorado and I was also shooting competitively with four H, so 22 long rifle, 50 feet, 50 you know, and jumping out there, I continued that shooting competitively till I got in the military.

So I got in the Army. I was a tank mechanic. The fun part about working on tanks is you work on a whole bunch of heavy steel. You also get to work on everything that the army has to offer at that doesn’t fly. [00:03:00] Great. I also got to shoot most of those, which made it even more fun. And I’m a decent shot. So most of those pulled me into different gunnery and different events throughout my time in the service. I got crushed by a tank, tow bar that medically separated me out. 2001. Same period of time. I also wen...