About Us
About The Founder
Joe Montalbano served two tours in Iraq and Afghanistan after high school. After leaving the service, he kept searching for a place he could share his experiences with others who had gone through the same things.
With the goal of providing a constructive, action-oriented environment for veterans to just be themselves and relate their experiences, Joe and the team began leading groups of veterans on nature trips, eventually founding Einherjar to support this mission.
About the Team
From Joe - The Origins of Einherjar
My vision for Einherjar began forming shortly after two of my friends and fellow veterans committed suicide within 7 days of each other. In total, suicide has taken more than 8 friends and brothers with whom I served in Iraq and Afghanistan. I realized it was my duty to join the fight against the 22 a day.
Knowing that the government and VA are unable to adequately address the issue by themselves, I began searching for ways to help my fellow veterans. I searched inside myself, trying to understand my own pain and struggles. Eventually I came to realize that while I do not miss war, I had never found a replacement for the deep camaraderie I experienced there - a brotherhood forged in battle - something greater than myself or any of the individuals involved.
So I continued searching - how could I return to this brotherhood as a veteran, but in a healthy way? How could I enable other veterans to once again experience the close bonds that they were searching for, without fear of judgement from outsiders?
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Three months later, with these questions still at the front of my mind, I set out on a 51 mile kayaking trip down the Tallapoosa river with my friend Austin Prince. It was here where I began to realize that I had discovered something real - that this was how we would help veterans adjust back to a life so different from the one they had to experience overseas.
I told Austin - you know what would make this trip better? A group of likeminded veterans searching for brotherhood in the great outdoors, where many of us trained for years and built bonds while serving in the military. And thus the mission for Einherjar was born.
We didn't know anything about starting a non-profit - we just knew that we wanted to give veterans the opportunity to experience the joy that we had found while exploring nature. Eventually, we officially incorporated Einherjar in August of 2019 and received our 501(c)(3) certification a few months later in October of 2019.
Our primary focus is leading veterans on adventures in nature where they can simply come as they are and once again experience deep camaraderie without fear of judgement or any need to look or act a certain way to fit in.