MTT September 10-14: Four Creeks Ranch, Big Timber, Montana

In 2006, eleven Marines deployed to Al Anbar Province as Military Transition Team 4, one of the first teams the Marine Corps built to advise and fight alongside the Iraqi Army. Twenty years later, six of them came together at Four Creeks Ranch in Big Timber.

Retired Colonel Jeff Kenney was one of them. By 25, he was a Gunnery Sergeant. He gave that up to earn his commission and start over as a second lieutenant. He went on to teach at The Basic School and the Infantry Officer Course, and he won the Leftwich Trophy commanding Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines. After a combat tour in Iraq, he left a staff job to join an advisor team.

Image provided: Jasper Key: Their vehicle post-blast.

On Memorial Day 2006, a remote-detonated IED hit his Humvee. It killed an Iraqi colonel and his interpreter. Jeff suffered 38 fractures and months of surgeries and rehab. SSgt Jasper Key was the driver and wounded himself. In the aftermath, Colonel Kenney was believed dead until SSgt Key saw him move and pulled him from the vehicle before the ammunition began to cook off, ultimately saving his life. HM3 Enrique Romero, the gunner, was thrown from the turret and found nearly 50 ft away.

This summer, all three were together in Montana.

Left to right: SSgt Jasper Key, Col. Jeff kenney, HM3 Enrique Romero

Jeff could have retired with honor. Instead, he fought his way back and trained the advisor teams that followed him. He then deployed twice more as an advisor to Afghanistan. He retired in 2016 after 41 years and 13 ranks, from private to colonel. That’s a career very few Marines have ever had. SSgt Key went on to serve 20 years and retire, while Doc Romero’s service ended after 6 years and a medical retirement.

At Bar X, a story is rarely one man’s to tell. When Jeff couldn’t remember a name, Tim Lynch said it, and it came right back. Over the week, the team filled in each other’s gaps: who was where, what came next, what was said. They finished each other’s sentences, and on days on the water, they laughed more than anyone expected.

Michael McNamara, leading Post-Traumatic Winning

Every Bar X retreat brings together those who served side by side in combat for guided fly-fishing, time to experience Montana, and guided time to help them understand their past and build a resilient future. By giving them space to put the pieces together with the people who carried them, they leave better than they arrived.