Mend the Drift CharlieMike Foundation
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Two anglers on a drift boat on a calm river at sunrise, surrounded by fog and mountains

A Project of the CharlieMike Foundation

Mend
the Drift

SOF Veterans / Fly Fishing / The Drift Debrief

Trained for every mission except coming home. Mend the Drift puts SOF veterans on the water with someone who's made the same crossing.

Hear The Drift Debrief Get on the Water
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Our Story

The river asks nothing of your rank.

Joshua Nacey — Special Operations Forces veteran, service-disabled veteran, founder of the CharlieMike Foundation — spent years pushing through a transition no one prepared him for. The river did what pushing through never could.

SOF veterans don't need another program. They need the right terrain, the right peer, and enough time to lower the guard. The river asks only one thing: can you be still enough to listen.

Most transition programs weren't built for this veteran. SOF operators carry more, show less, and reach out last — and fall through the gap because of it. Mend the Drift was built for exactly that veteran.

"Nobody pushes it. The water does the work."

Sources: USSOCOM / AAoS Study · GAO-24-106587 · JAMA Network Open, 2025

A lone angler in waders casting a fly line into a river at golden hour
1 in 4 SOF veterans report a difficult transition home — most never ask for help first.

By The Numbers

SOF veterans carry more risk than the rest of the force.

Standard veteran statistics don't capture what Special Operations veterans carry home. The comparison is stark.

~30% higher SOF suicide rate compared to the broader U.S. military.
2.1:1 vs 15:1 Suicide attempt-to-death ratio. When SOF operators act, they rarely survive it.
70%+ Eligible service members the DOD's main transition program failed to reach in 2022.
120,000+ Veteran suicides since 2001 — more than combat deaths in every war since Vietnam, combined.

Sources: USSOCOM / AAoS Study · JAMA Network Open, 2025 · GAO-24-107752 · Mission Roll Call, 2025

The Project

Not therapy. Not an event. A structured peer experience on moving water.

Built for the operators standard programs were never designed to reach. Three days. Two guys. One drift boat.

  1. A drift boat with two men moving quietly through morning fog on a canyon river
    Day One

    Learning to read the river

    Two guys, one drift boat, no agenda. Just water, instruction, and room to breathe — maybe for the first time in years.

  2. Two men fly fishing from a drift boat in warm afternoon light
    Day Two

    The guard comes down

    The guard comes down on its own out here. It always does. By day two, conversation finds its current. Nobody pushes it — the water does the work.

  3. Two veterans recording the Mend the Drift podcast in studio, facing each other across a table with microphones and branded mugs
    Day Three

    The Drift Debrief

    Something shifts after two days on the water. Off the river, we sit down and capture it — an honest conversation between people who've walked the same ground, for every veteran who needs to hear he's not the only one.

In Their Words

"I've done the clinical programs. This was the first time I talked without feeling like I was being evaluated. It was just the river, and a guy who got it."
— SOF veteran, Program participant
"My husband came back from three days on the water different. Not fixed — lighter. That's the word he used. Lighter."
— Spouse of a program participant
A vintage microphone resting on a wooden dock at dusk overlooking a river

A Podcast by Mend the Drift

The Drift Debrief

Coming Soon

Recorded conversations with SOF veterans — captured after two days on the water, when the guard is finally down. Not polished. Not produced. Real. First episode drops end of August 2026.

SOF veterans don't open up easily — not in clinical settings, not to strangers. Two days on the water with someone who's been there changes that. The Drift Debrief captures what happens next. Not therapy content. Testimony.

The First Cast Back End of August
What the Water Doesn't Ask Coming soon
Guides Who Lived It Coming soon
Get Notified At Launch

Get on the Water

Built for the veteran navigating the transition home.

If you're a SOF veteran struggling to find purpose, connection, or solid ground — this was built for you. Know someone who needs it? You don't need the words. Tell us who they are. We'll take it from there.

  • No cost to participants — gear, guides, and travel are covered
  • Confidential intake, peer-led, no clinical evaluation
  • Open to SOF veterans at any stage of transition

We respond privately, within 48 hours.

Partners & Sponsors

Built on the ground, with people who show up.

Mend the Drift runs on partnerships with people who understand that the right experience, at the right time, changes everything. If you build gear, guide rivers, or believe in the mission — we want to talk.

Tier One

River access, guide days, and boats — the backbone of every trip.

Tier Two

Gear, apparel, and travel partners who outfit every veteran on the water.

Tier Three

Community partners who help us find the veterans who need this most.

Sponsors

Frontline Services, Inc. Mayfly Outdoors
Fly fishing gear laid out on a wooden dock — rod, reel, fly box, waders, map, and duffel

Support the Mission

Every dollar goes to getting SOF veterans on the water.

Gear. Guides. Boats. Time. This is what it costs to reach the veterans that standard programs never find.

$2,400Covers one veteran's full trip — travel, food, lodging, and a rod, line, and reel of his own
100%Of donations go directly to program costs
Donate Now

CharlieMike Foundation · Established 2019 · 501(c)(3) · All donations are tax deductible.

Contact

Let's talk on the water — or off it.

Veteran, partner, sponsor, or just curious — we want to hear from you.

hello@mendthedrift.org Refer a Veteran