I’m Doing Team RWB’s GWOT 100, And You Should Too

I’ve written before about memory, brotherhood, and the strange ways the past has a habit of walking back into our lives when we least expect it. In a previous piece for Black Rifle Coffee Company’s Coffee or Die magazine, I wrote about Irish and Yardbird—two men whose names still carry weight for me, not because of how they died, but because of how they lived, fought, and looked out for their families and their comrades in the 160th SOAR. That article wasn’t about nostalgia; it was about obligation. And it was about remembering that none of us made it through our battles, on the front lines or at the home front, alone.

That same sense of obligation is why I’m doing Team RWB’s GWOT 100 this year.

And if you’re reading this—whether you’re a military veteran, athlete, or someone just trying to get a little stronger in body and mind—I think you should do it too.

So what is Team RWB, and what is the GWOT 100? I’m glad you asked…

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What Is Team RWB?

Team Red, White & Blue (Team RWB) is a veteran-focused organization built around a simple but powerful idea:

enriching the lives of America’s veterans by connecting them through physical and social activity.

But that description barely scratches the surface.

Team RWB isn’t about mandatory fun or forced positivity. It’s about restoring the sense of tribe that many of us lost when we took the uniform off. It’s about shared hardship, shared movement, and shared purpose. Whether that’s running, rucking, lifting, cycling, paddling, or just showing up and putting in work next to someone who understands you without needing an explanation.

Team RWB recognizes something the military has always known:
physical activity is a force multiplier for mental health, resilience, and community.

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What Is the GWOT 100?

The GWOT 100 is a physical challenge created by Team RWB to honor those who served during the Global War on Terror (GWOT) and it subseqent operations.

The concept is straightforward: One mission. One month. One hundred miles.

• Complete 100 miles of activity (running, walking, rucking, cycling, etc.)
• Over a set period of time
• In remembrance of those who served and those who didn’t make it home

Those 100 miles aren’t arbitrary. They represent effort, persistence, and the long, grinding nature of the wars many of us fought—wars that didn’t end with a parade, a victory speech, or clean closure.

You don’t have to be elite.
You don’t have to be fast.
You just have to keep moving.

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Why I’m Doing It

I’m not doing the GWOT 100 because I need another challenge. I’ve had enough of those.

I’m not doing it because I like cardio. I don’t. Like… at all. For real; just ask anyone who knows me.

I’m doing it because movement has always been how I process things that don’t sit well when I’m still. Because the miles give my thoughts somewhere to go. Because every step is a reminder that I’m still here—and some very good people aren’t.

When I wrote about Irish and Yardbird, I wasn’t just telling war stories. I was acknowledging a debt. The kind you don’t pay off with words or social media posts, but with action. With effort. With showing up.

The GWOT 100 is a way to do that without spectacle. No chest-thumping. No hashtags-for-validation. Just work.

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Why Veterans Should Do It

If you’re a veteran, you already understand the value of shared suffering and common purpose.

The GWOT 100 gives you:

• A reason to train when motivation is low
• A connection to others who speak the same unspoken language
• A structured way to honor service without wallowing in it

You don’t have to relive your worst day, or someone else’s. You just have to move forward, one mile at a time, with people who get it.

That alone is worth the effort.

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Why Athletes Should Do It

If you’re an athlete, the GWOT 100 is a reminder that fitness can be about more than PRs and podiums.

This isn’t about winning.
It’s about endurance, consistency, and purpose.

The challenge will test your discipline more than your speed. It will ask you to show up on days when the miles feel tedious instead of exciting. That’s where real growth happens—physically and mentally.

And you’ll be doing it in service of something bigger than yourself.

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Why Everyone Else Should Do It

You don’t need a military background to participate.

You just need a body that moves and a willingness to commit.

The GWOT 100 is scalable. Walk. Run. Ruck. Bike. Mix it up. Do what you can, where you are, with what you have. The point isn’t how impressive it looks—it’s that you do it.

In a world that increasingly encourages comfort, passivity, and isolation, choosing to do something hard—on purpose—matters.

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What You Should Do Now

The GWOT didn’t end cleanly. For many of us, it didn’t really end at all. It just changed form.

The GWOT 100 isn’t about revisiting the past. It’s about carrying forward what mattered: discipline, accountability, and looking out for one another.

I’m doing Team RWB’s GWOT 100 this year because it aligns with the values I still live by—and the people I still carry with me.

You should do it too.

Not because it’s trendy.
Not because it’s easy.
But because some things are worth the miles…. like the memories of Irish and Yardbird, and everyone else who never made it home.

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Charles served over 27 years in the US Army, which included seven combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan with various Special Operations Forces units and two stints as an instructor at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He also completed operational tours in Egypt, the Philippines, and the Republic of Korea and earned a Doctor of Business Administration from Temple University as well as a Master of Arts in International Relations from Yale University. He is the owner of The Havok Journal, and the views expressed herein are his own and do not reflect those of the US Government or any other person or entity.

As the Voice of the Veteran Community, The Havok Journal seeks to publish a variety of perspectives on a number of sensitive subjects. Unless specifically noted otherwise, nothing we publish is an official point of view of The Havok Journal or any part of the U.S. government.