Warriors On The Water Is Saturday
https://www.montanawarriorsonthewater.com/
MWOTW was formed in 2015 in Miles City, MT as a grassroots effort to serve our nation’s veterans and active-duty personnel through outdoor activities, mainly hunting and fishing. MWOTW is governed by an all-volunteer Board of Directors and relies on volunteers from many different areas of Montana to run our trips. It is important that the public knows that all funds raised go directly into helping us run the organization – there are NO paid employees for MWOTW.
Our main event every year is our annual fishing trip on Fort Peck Lake the last week of July. We solicit applications from all over the United States each January and we look to bring 12-16 veterans into Eastern Montana for a weeklong experience. This trip, as well as all of our trips, are absolutely free to the veterans – MWOTW pays all their traveling expenses, meals and lodging.
The event always starts on a Saturday with the vets arriving in Miles City and/or Billings. We transport them from the Billings airport via a donated bus rightly named the Freedom Bus back to Miles City and get them settled in at the Sleep Inn. Sunday morning, we allow our attendees to settle down and see what the beautiful town of Miles City has to offer. Sunday evening finds us at a local venue within walking distance of the hotel for a low key social and a great meal. After breakfast on Monday, we head to the Hell Creek Marina 25 miles North of Jordan. We spend 4 days there where our highly skilled team of volunteer boat captains take the veterans out fishing every day. All the meals are prepared by volunteers, and each evening meal is donated by various businesses or groups from Garfield County and the surrounding area. On Friday morning after breakfast, vets have the opportunity to be transported across the lake to a long-range rifle shoot. Friday afternoon finds everyone at the historic Fort Peck Hotel in Fort Peck. Friday night, the vets are treated to a fantastic steak fry in a relaxing environment. On Saturday morning there is a great breakfast provided and cooked by the Fort Peck Marina and then the vets head out for a great day of fishing with volunteer boat captains from the Fort Peck/Glasgow area where they get the opportunity to catch new species of fish they may not came across yet. Saturday night is always our concert and fundraiser featuring one of our many talented bands from around the region. Saturday night also serves as our annual fundraising event that features live and silent auctions along with many raffles and games. It is a night filled with great music, food, a cash bar and a great opportunity to meet the veterans! Sunday is the day we have to say goodbye with some vets flying out of Glasgow and some being transported back to the Billings airport depending on flight schedules.
MWOTW also has a few other opportunities for veterans besides our annual fishing trip. We take veterans elk hunting in the Big Timber area during the shoulder season in December and we are also offering a women’s fishing retreat over the Labor Day weekend at Rock Creek on the dry arm of Fort Peck Reservoir. We have other hunting and fishing opportunities being offered to us by other landowners and supporters, but our finances restrict just how many trips we can actually offer each year. We hope to continue to grow and attract more funding so we can bring as many veterans into Montana to enjoy our state and our hospitality as we can!
