{"id":78,"date":"2022-08-19T18:53:12","date_gmt":"2022-08-19T18:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/?p=78"},"modified":"2024-03-05T15:49:00","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T15:49:00","slug":"wcsu-alumnus-sets-out-to-sea-to-raise-awareness-of-veteran-ptsd-and-suicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/2022\/08\/19\/wcsu-alumnus-sets-out-to-sea-to-raise-awareness-of-veteran-ptsd-and-suicide\/","title":{"rendered":"WCSU alumnus sets out to sea to raise awareness of veteran PTSD and suicide"},"content":{"rendered":"

United States Navy veteran and\u00a0Western Connecticut State University\u00a0<\/a>alumnus A.M. \u201cHupp\u201d Huppmann set out to sea last week as a participant in the\u00a02021 Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge<\/a>\u00a0to raise awareness of the challenges faced by veterans, including high rates of suicide and PTSD. Huppmann is a member of\u00a0Foar From Home<\/a>, one of 35 rowing teams crossing 3,000 miles of the Atlantic Ocean from the Canary Islands to Antigua to support a variety of causes.<\/p>\n

\u201cHeavy on us has been the veteran suicide issue that\u2019s plaguing the nation,\u201d said Huppmann of the team\u2019s goal to heighten awareness and prevention of veteran post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide.<\/p>\n

\n

\"(l-r):

(l-r): Cameron Hansen, \u201cHupp\u201d Huppmann, Billy Cimino and Paul Lore (Photo courtesy of Atlantic Campaigns.)<\/p><\/div>

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Foar From Home was formed in 2019. It is comprised of\u00a0Huppmann<\/a>\u00a0and fellow veterans \u00a0Billy Cimino<\/a>\u00a0(U.S. Army),\u00a0Cameron Hansen<\/a>\u00a0(U.S. Air Force) and\u00a0Paul Lore<\/a>\u00a0(U.S. Marine Corps). The teammates all reside on Amelia Island, Florida, which influenced their mantra: \u201cIt takes an island to cross an ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n

Funds raised by the group will be donated to Florida-based charity and veteran service organization\u00a0K9s for Warriors<\/a>, which provides highly trained service dogs to military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and\/or military sexual trauma; and \u00a0Cross The Line Foundation<\/a>, to start a vocational or college endowment to assist veterans and their families during job, career or life transitions. The initial fundraising goal was $500,000, which has since been raised to $730,000 after surpassing $700,000.<\/p>\n

Huppmann\u2019s journey to participate in the challenge began in August 1984, when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and subsequently served on the aircraft carrier USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN-71), as well as several submarines. Huppmann completed a range of Cold War-era deployments, strategic ballistic missile submarine deterrent patrols and extended combat cruises in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom during his service. He retired from active duty with the rank of Senior Chief Petty Officer in August 2004 after a 20-year career.<\/p>\n

After returning to civilian life, Huppmann attended the University of New Mexico for two years, and then moved to Connecticut and enrolled at WCSU as a nontraditional student in 2016. He was able to fast-track the last two years of his studies into two semesters, graduating with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management in spring 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used my GI Bill benefits at WestConn,\u201d Huppmann said. \u201cI went to school every day and had a full-time schedule, and then at night I would take classes online. I am extremely proud to be a graduate of WCSU.\u201d<\/p>\n

After obtaining his B.B.A. in Management from WCSU, Huppmann settled in Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island, Florida, where he is a small business owner and musician. He soon began preparing for his participation in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge.<\/p>\n

\n

\"(l-r):

(l-r): Cameron Hansen, Billy Cimino, Paul Lore and \u201cHupp\u201d Huppmann (Photo courtesy of Foar From Home.)<\/p><\/div>

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Huppmann and his teammates were required to undergo strenuous training in preparation for the challenge. The team traveled to Jacksonville University for row training, in addition to their training in trauma-level medicine, open-ocean navigation, safety\/survival at sea and radio communications. They have spent the months leading up to the race demonstrating proficiency in their boat, spending about 350 hours rowing in the open Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida.<\/p>\n

There were other special considerations for the strenuous undertaking. \u201cWe\u2019ve gone through several inspections via Zoom call to make sure our boat is laid out properly,\u201d Huppmann said. \u201cThey count calories, in quantities of per calorie, per man, per day bundles of food that you have to carry in your boat. The food alone amounts to about 1,000 lbs., all dehydrated.\u201d Huppmann stressed the importance of calorie counting, stating that \u201csleep deprivation and malnutrition set in as you start getting into these longer runs. You\u2019re eating 5,000 calories a day, but burning 9,000. Each guy will probably lose about 30 pounds as we come across on the journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge website, each team will row in excess of 1.5 million oar strokes during the race.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, it\u2019s a great metaphor for an anti-suicide campaign, because you want people to keep pushing every day, no matter how hard it gets,\u201d Huppmann said.<\/p>\n

It also relates to his time in the Management program at WCSU.<\/p>\n

\u201cProfessor of Management\u00a0Dr. Pauline Assenza<\/a>\u00a0in the\u00a0Ancell School of Business<\/a>\u00a0was just an absolutely influential professional when I was there wrapping up,\u201d Huppmann said. \u201cShe still crosses my mind often because she was so inspirational about going forward on your journey in life and being willing and able to realize your own dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

The challenge began last week with the launch on Dec. 13 from the Spanish port of San Sebastian in La Gomera, Canary Islands, and is projected to take Huppmann and his team about a month and a half to arrive in Nelson\u2019s Dockyard in Antigua-Barbuda. Their progress can be tracked in real-time throughout the challenge through the\u00a0Yellow Brick Racing<\/a>\u00a0app.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Western Connecticut State University changes lives by providing all students with a high-quality education that fosters their growth as individuals, scholars, professionals and leaders in a global society. Our vision: To be widely recognized as a premier public university with outstanding teachers and scholars who prepare students to contribute to the world in a meaningful way.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

United States Navy veteran and\u00a0Western Connecticut State University\u00a0alumnus A.M. \u201cHupp\u201d Huppmann set out to sea last week as a participant in the\u00a02021 Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge\u00a0to raise awareness of the challenges faced by veterans, including high rates of suicide and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-success-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}