CONTINUING THE CALL TO SERVE

An Interview with Major General Bob Dees, by Ethan Maltby

At first glance, the National Center for Healthy Veterans looks like any other working farm. Livestock graze

in the fields, crops are tended daily, and hard work begins before sunrise. But the true harvest isn’t agricultural—it’s the restoration of military Veterans searching for purpose after service.

Behind that mission is retired U.S. Army Major General Bob Dees, who founded the National Center for Healthy Veterans in 2020 with a vision of helping Veterans rediscover purpose through community, meaningful work, and faith.

Major General Dees has dedicated his life as the CEO of The National Center for Healthy Veterans where Veterans can rediscover a sense of belonging. Through the program, Veterans who are struggling can come and find themselves through the camaraderie of fellow Veterans and get the help they may have never gotten otherwise.

Major General Dees served for 31 years as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army. Some of the command positions he held included, Assistant Division Commander of the 101st Airborne Division; Commander, 2nd Infantry Division, U.S. Forces Korea; Deputy Commander of V Corps in Europe; and Commander, U.S.-Israeli Joint Task and Commander, U.S.-Israeli Joint Task Force for Missile Defense.

Major General Dees believes recovery begins with three essential principles. “To defeat isolation is community. To defeat lack of purpose and self-esteem is dignified work. To defeat the lack of emotional regulation and lack of life skills is faith-based trauma recovery and life skills programs.” These fundamentals are put into practice at The National Center for Healthy Veterans where Veterans who have been accepted into the program can come and reinvent themselves through the community. 

Through grit and perseverance, Veterans learn to focus on productive work rather than the struggles that once defined their lives.

An example is a carpentry class where the Veterans are taken step by step through the process of making a wooden box that can hold their belongings. 

Inside the woodshop, the smell of fresh-cut lumber fills the room as Veterans carefully measure, sand and assemble wooden keepsake boxes—projects that become lasting reminders of perseverance.

This gives them something that they can look at inside of their rooms and remember the determination and resilience it took to make it. They can then take this message and apply it to other aspects of their day. 

The center’s success has inspired similar Veteran-focused farms across the country, with several organizations reaching out to learn how to replicate NCHV’s model.

If you wish to assist with the program through volunteering or if you know a Veteran that may need their assistance, you can find NCHV at HealthyVets.org.