The Valhalla Project V1.0

http://www.valhalla-project.com/p/valhalla-vision.html

VALHALLA VISION For centuries combat soldiers have wanted – and often legitimately needed – a special place of their own to go for an assortment of different reasons: to seek solace and quiet contemplation, for productive activity that gives value to their lives, and for the support of comrades and fellow warriors who understand what they have experienced in combat.

Norse mythology envisioned a place called Valhalla with the Great Hall of Odin, where the bravest warriors who had died in battle came back to life and lived forever. Every morning they went out to battle, returning every evening to have their wounds tended at Valhalla; they drank and feasted and listened to tales of great valor in the Great Hall there.

Though mythological, the concept of Valhalla is a simple yet reassuring one for combat veterans: they realize that while the vast civilian population lacks comprehension of their effort and sacrifices, there could be a special place – and a group of fellow Soldiers – who fully understand their experience and are prepared to support each other mutually to accept and deal with it.

What would Valhalla be like if it could be built here on earth today? It might be a large secluded property with a main house containing a Great Hall to accommodate up to 50 soldiers and approved visitors at a time in comfort and security. It might have a series of one to two bedroom cabins – some clustered, others more private – in spacious clearings surrounded by woods where a dozen individuals could live long term for weeks or months. Valhalla would certainly be self sustaining, with rain water collection and waste water recycling systems, septic tanks, solar and micro-hydropower electricity, geothermal and solar heating and cooling systems, vegetable gardens, and meat provided through hunting and fishing as well as raised livestock such as sheep, cattle, pigs, rabbits and chickens.

The Valhalla concept is being developed to offer a safe, productive, living and working opportunity for Soldiers in a relatively stress-free environment. A beautiful 200 acre property has already been acquired for the project, and a large house where up to ten people may live while the first cabins are being constructed has recently undergone a series of safety upgrades. While more preparatory work must be financed and performed before the first "Valhallans" arrive, the Valhalla Project is on track for receiving the first groups of participants in the spring of 2012.

By insisting on an “everyone works” philosophy (albeit in combination with more than ample opportunities to hunt, fish, hike, camp, and participate in an array of other recreational activities), Soldiers will be reminded that personal responsibility and accountability are of paramount importance. There would be no “free rides” at Valhalla, as there are none in life. Valhalla will definitely not be a 1960s type “commune,” nor will it serve as a traditional mental health facility. It will instead provide a combination of a physical and emotional retreat from what may be, for some, unresolved readjustment problems and difficulty in transitioning into non-combat situations.

One of the long-term objectives of Valhalla will be to establish modest training and educational programs – or facilitate access and participation in already established programs – in order to give Soldiers new skill sets and a sense of productivity that can be translated either into a new career field or simply a valuable hobby or pastime. Some learning/residence centers where stays vary from a long weekend to several months already exist in difference parts of the country, and Valhalla would apply some of their lessons in its own unique programs.

In order to make this happen, a ready source of potential volunteer instructors exists among civilian contractor personnel who previously volunteered to go to war zones, including Iraq and Afghanistan, in order to help Soldiers. Many are military veterans themselves. Many of these contractors are also near or past retirement age and a facility like Valhalla will offer them the opportunity to continue to assist Soldiers by training and educating them, while also enjoying the sense of satisfaction that comes with making a contribution and passing knowledge and skills to a future generation.

Governance

Valhalla is governed by a small, highly efficient, five member Board of Directors who will eventually operate with advice from three primary advisory committees dedicated to the subjects of (1) Operations, (2) Construction, and (3) Finance and Fundraising. Additional information about Valhalla governance can be found here.

Operations and Functions

Who will build and maintain Valhalla? Combat veterans – including but not limited to those who have been unable to secure gainful employment after leaving the military or otherwise fail to integrate into civilian communities as a result of PTSD or physical injuries – under the guidance of Valhalla's onsite managers and professional tradesmen as needed. A pool of construction specialists also exists who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of whom are dedicated to helping Soldiers. From these men and women the Valhalla construction program will be able to recruit volunteers to assist with actual projects and training interested Soldiers in the required specialties.

What will Valhalla look like? How will it proceed? Photographs of the 200 acres property and existing house are available throughout this website, although as work progresses it will look quite different than it does today.

There will eventually be a network of nature trails, expansive parks, fully equipped campgrounds, clusters of handcrafted cabins made from materials harvested and gathered from the land itself, foot bridges over the creeks, tree houses and tree platforms, and butterfly gardens along with strategically-placed food plots within favored habit for the many species of wildlife, rotational grazing pastures for the farm animals, and acres of raised bed vegetable gardens and orchards that Valhalla Project participants will rely on for food.

Because wars will never end and the number of combat veterans who will value and appreciate such a special place of their own will always be with us, Valhalla is intended from the beginning to be a 100 year building and wildlands management endevour. Participants will be able to choose to come back year after year – or in five years, ten years, or twenty years distant – to check on progress and enjoy the hard work of fellow participants while saying "See that cabin over there? That garden, that stone wall? I helped build that, and just look at it now! These trees have grown so much, the soil in this pasture is much improved..."

The message to Soldiers and war zone civilian workers who will never again see the Forward Operating Bases where they served, people who miss their buddies and the commraderie they experienced before, will be clear: You can choose to come back, and it will always be here for you. Valhalla will grow and improve just as you personally can grow and improve, no matter what roadblocks and challenges will inevidably pop up along the way.

What would combat veterans living at Valhalla do there? Valhalla will have a simple philosophy applicable to all visitors and residents: Everybody works for the common good, to help themselves as well as their fellow Soldiers. Whether pulling weeds in the vegetable gardens, surveying the more remote portions of the property, tending to farm animals, cooking in the kitchen, hammering nails, tracking expenses on spreadsheets, writing Valhalla project progress reports, meeting and greeting the public in a separate visitors center isolated from the rest of the property, or any number of other essential tasks, all Valhalla beneficiaries would be required to dedicate at least half of their time to various projects during their stay, while residents will follow a standard five day work week.