About Us

 A little about V/O and a few of our favorite FAQ’s.

A lot of people ask us how V/O came about, but in order to tell that story, we have to introduce Jeff and Will, the founders of Veteran Overland. Jeff and Will met on ih8mud, a Land Cruiser forum. For months Jeff and Will drove the same roads, passing each other in their FJ80’s series, and one day they connected on a forum they frequented that discussed trucks, camping, and the outdoors. Realizing they were neighbors and both GWOT combat veterans, they decided to meet for beers. Through their conversations they connected over their love of overlanding and began to understand the ties overlanding had to their military experience. The parallels of self-reliant travel, packing gear to sustain a long trip and traveling in a convoy, was much like the vehicle travel they experienced while deployed. These parallels and a desire to give back to the veteran community are what would spark the beginnings of Veteran Overland. On December 31st 2016, Jeff pulled out his phone and drew a simple logo with the name Veteran Overland underneath. For the better part of 2017 Jeff began to build the foundation of what would become V/O and soon after brought on Will as the co-founder to further the mission. They attended rallies and meet ups in hopes of connecting veterans to a community of like minded individuals who also felt the ties of overlanding to the military, and understood the benefit of getting outdoors. V/O officially became a 501(c)(3) in 2019 expanding it’s leadership team and outreach efforts. Learn more about our team on our team page.

  • Overlanding is a term used to describe traveling “over land” while taking all necessary supplies on the vehicle for the journey. This ranges from weekend camping trips with the family to multi day/week expeditions. Overlanding is one of the five pillars of our how we complete our mission, and has direct parallels to our military experiences; community, skill building, adventure, gear, and resilience.

  • V/O was founded by two combat Veterans, Jeff and Will. Will is an Afghanistan war Vet and still in the National Guard as a Captain. Jeff is an Iraq war Vet and got out in 2006 as a Staff Sergeant.  In 2018, we brought on Zeb and Adam.  Zeb originally helped to organize events and scout site locations, but was promoted to Executive Director of the foundation in July of 2024.  He's a Marine with one tour to Iraq and has a big red beard.  Adam helps with all of our photography and web design.  He hasn't served directly, but he comes from a family of service members and appreciates the sacrifices made by their service. Danny is our other longest serving leadership team member. Danny's father was an Army Sergeant and serves as Danny's motivation to give back to the Veteran community. Danny is Head of Experiences for basecamp. To learn more about our leadership team visit the Team page!

  • We created Veteran Overland in December 2016.  V/O is our our way of giving back to the Veteran community.  Getting outside, camping, off-roading, and exploring are interests we recognized that a lot of Veterans had in common.  Veterans were picking these activities over the local softball team or VFW so we wanted to provide a way for Veterans to get organized and build a community.  We saw the strong connection between Veterans and Overlanding. So we created V/O.

  • Yes. Veteran Overland Foundation is a 501(c)(3) as of 2019. All proceeds are put directly towards helping Veterans by getting them outdoors and connected with Veterans and Veteran supporters. We received Platinum Transparency for 2024 through Guidestar.

  • No way! Military and Veteran supporters are major support system and intrical part of the V/O community. We truly appreciate civilians who support the sacrifices Veterans have made. We have multiple civilians who are on the leadership team and dozens of civilian members. Without their support we as Veterans would be alone!

  • Unfortunately we are not expanding V/O at this time. We are based in Portland, OR and most of our efforts are in the PNW. We encourage everyone to use our Facebook and Forumsto connect with other Vets and create your own events.

  • V/O can't exists without our supporters and we want to make it easy for you to help! Check out our How to Help page to see how you can fuel the V/O mission!

  • Membership is our way to connect Veterans and Veteran supporters. The $50 lifetime Membership fee is also how we help fuel our mission. Veterans are finding a home in overlanding and we wear our V/O Member patches with pride! Becoming a lifetime Veteran Overland member comes with a host of benefits which can be found on our membership page.

  • No. We believe the mission of V/O is to only take direction from Veterans and supporters. This has been our policy from the start. Our efforts, social media, and company direction is our own and of our members. Not taking on sponsorships keeps us in control. If you want to donate items to one of our events or directly to our veterans please reach out here!