AUBURN UNIVERSITY, Ala. — Hiking the Rocky Mountains and exploring the scenic Colorado River are just two of the exciting activities that teens can experience this summer through the Military Teen Adventure Camps.

Designed specifically for teens of active duty, guard and reserve military personnel, these camps provide fun and adventure through unique outdoor and leadership experiences. Alabama 4-H and five other state Extension programs will host camp locations in nine states as part of the 4-H Military Partnership. While hosted by 4-H programs, military teens do not have to be 4-H members to attend.

Joint Military Teen Leadership Summit

Alabama 4-H will host its camp — the Joint Military Teen Leadership Summit — Aug. 17-21 in Estes Park, Colorado. At this camp location, teens will get to hike in Rocky Mountain National Park and experience other traditional summer-camp activities, such as horseback riding, technical climbing and archery.

“The most exciting part of these camps is seeing young people make connections with other military teens and have fun in adventurous environments across the country,” said Casey Mull, Alabama Extension’s new assistant director for 4-H. “The teens also get to see the support that the military community has for them.”

While Alabama 4-H’s camp is in Colorado, Mull said teens in Alabama can apply to attend any of the camps. Other locations include Arizona, Idaho, Kentucky, New Mexico, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia. In some cases, there are multiple camp locations within each state. Also, many of these camps offer stipends to help families offset travel costs. For registration and information on each camp location, visit the Military Teen Adventure Camps web page at aces.edu/go/MTAC.

Supporting Military Families

Through his former position, Mull has been involved with these camps for many years. As a U.S. Air Force reservist, he said bringing this program to Alabama was personally important.

“Alabama hosts more than 15,000 4-H-age military youths. That includes U.S. Space Command now relocating to Huntsville and Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, among other military bases,” Mull said. “Our military families need support as they face the challenges of relocation and deployment, in addition to the challenges of being an adolescent.”

The 4-H Military Partnership is an important connection between military and land-grant university partners. Through efforts like the Military Teen Adventure Camps, thousands of military youth and families get to engage in 4-H’s research-based youth development programs.

“Military youth experience frequent relocations, deployments, reintegration and ever-changing schools and environments,” Mull said. “4-H is here to provide a constant for them, as it is available in every county, parish and borough in the U.S. and at military installations across the globe.”

For more information and resources, visit 4-hmilitarypartnership.org.