Aloha to my RFTW ֫Ohana. It is my honor to have been nominated by Paul Marshall and approved by the Board of Directors (BOD) of Run for the Wall to be the Route Coordinator for the Central Route Run for the Wall XXXIV/2024. I want to thank Paul Marshall and the BOD for their confidence in my abilities to lead the Central Route.
As a combat veteran, the mission of the RFTW is close to my heart, and a mission I know to be critical to all of our veterans and to the health of our nation.
I enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1981 at the age of 17 and served for 24 ½ years. I Retired in March of 2006. During my time in the Corps, I was involved in 3 Combat tours, including Contingency Operations in Beirut Lebanon, Desert Shield/Storm/Sweep and Watch, and the invasion of Iraq in 2003, where I was the Logistics Chief for 3rd Battalion 7th Marine Regiment. In 3rd Bn 7th Marines, I was proud to add to the distinguished legacy of the Battalion, a legacy that includes the honorable service of Gunny Gregory, founder of RFTW, who served in 3rd Bn 7th Marines in Vietnam. When I returned from each of these deployments I was greeted with respect and Welcomed Home. Our Vietnam Veterans did not receive this Welcome Home or Thanks for their Service when they first returned, and it is because of their determination that this should never happen again, that I received my Welcome Home. The Run’s Mission carries this determination forward to all veterans of all wars – a vital mission worthy of our energy and renewed efforts as we carry on into 2024.
I became involved with RFTW in 2009 at the urging of Pato-Pato and was planning on going once. I owned a Harley Davidson Sportster and decided that was not an appropriate Bike for the Run, so I flew from Honolulu to the LA area and found a Goldwing for sale.
The plan was to do the Run and leave the bike with Family in Virginia to sell for me. By the end of Day 1 of the 2009 Run, my plans changed. I called my wife from Williams and told her to change my flight from Virginia to a flight a week later from San Diego, because I was keeping the bike and shipping it home to Hawaii from California. I needed it for RFTW 2010! In 2010 I was asked to be a platoon tailgunner. In 2011 I was moved into the Assistant Platoon Leader spot and did that job for a few years. In 2016 I took over as Platoon Leader. In 2022 I was a Road Guard and then in 2023 Paul Marshall and the BOD honored me with the Assistant Route Coordinator Position. I also served as a platoon leader on the Sandbox Recon in 2019 and as a Road Guard on Sandbox in 2023. Additionally, I was on the Board of Directors for 2 1⁄2 years as the Director of Public Relations and Communications and as the BOD Secretary.
AFTER ACTION REPORTS
Enough about me; let’s talk about 2024. RFTW 2023 went very well, but as always, we look for ways to improve the Run and strengthen the Mission. I don’t plan on fixing things that are not broken, but I do have some ideas that may help the Run. I need input from both our seasoned riders and our new riders to help me with that. PLEASE CLICK HERE AND FILL OUT AN AFTER-ACTION REPORT. It can be anonymous if you prefer, but if you include your name and contact info, I can reach out to talk about any issues or ideas you have.
VOLUNTEERS
We also need Volunteers to help fill empty positions. Go online and fill out the Volunteer form Important – Even if you had a position last year, I need to know if you are interested in coming back in that capacity or maybe looking for a new Role, so please submit your form.
CLICK HERE FOR THE VOLUNTEER FORM
We will be having Zoom Meetings in the coming weeks to complete a “Debrief/After Action Report.” Using this information as well as the After-Action Reports from Individuals, I plan on developing our overall plan with Leadership and hope to make 2024 a great year for RFTW Central Route.
REGISTRATION – September 11, 2023
I encourage everyone to Register early as soon as the Registration Opens on 9-11-2023 so we can do several things.
- Start getting an Accurate Count of Riders.
- Confirm that our Leadership and Volunteers are Committed to RFTW XXXIV.
- Start planning for all of our stops next year.
As many of you have heard numerous times, we are all ambassadors for the Run, so I encourage each of you to get out in your community and spread the word about RFTW. Stress the fact that riders do not have to go All the Way. They can join for a day or 2 or longer depending on their work and life schedules. Colorado has a great network and I encourage Riders in other States to do something similar. CO had 68 Riders registered for the 2023 Run (68 of 462!)!
Planning is underway for the Angel Fire Workday/Reunion over Labor Day weekend already. If you would like to assist in the planning, please reach out to me and I will connect you with the folks already working behind the scenes.
There will be more news to come in the next few weeks as we solidify teams, firm up our plans for Angel Fire and get the planning underway. I look forward to seeing all of you in Angel Fire and/or Ontario CA.
Nick “Richboy” Hentges
RFTW Central Route Coordinator 2024
