Patrol Base Abbate

Patrol Base Abbate provides a space for all veterans to form community and rediscover their purpose around shared interests to promote mental health and foster resilience.

Veterans are choosing suicide at a rate that places us in a category of our own, above the national civilian average. The leading cause of suicide in the veteran space is a lack of community, loss of meaningful connections, and loss of purpose, leading to isolation and hopelessness. When ignored or neglected, this trend advances down a path toward suicidality.
The Veteran Service Organization space of more than 44,000 non-profits holds space to address this enduring challenge. Of those that exist to facilitate community or confront veteran suicide, the overwhelming majority, either overtly or by selection, focus their efforts on select populations that appeal to civilian support but do not address or accommodate the data. For example, the risk of suicide is higher among our veteran population who did not deploy, and those who did not experience combat. As a result, the preponderance of our veteran population who carry the highest risk of suicidality has limited access to solution-based, community-focused suicide prevention and suicide protection veteran resources. While the very crowded space is homogenizing towards less exclusivity, many of the changes are slowly backpedaling into the arena where the majority of veterans exist.
Patrol Base Abbate is built on the foundation of no barriers to entry. Among many ways that we hold true to this, the first is that the circumstances of one’s service do not matter for membership. The only requirement for membership is having sworn the oath and worn the nation's cloth. As a result and guided by the data, we exist for all veterans to find a community of fellows to serve as an antidote to the risk factors of suicide. Beyond welcoming all, we exist as a means to avoid the emergent end of the suicide path. We seek to ideally get veterans connected before isolation, hopelessness, and suicidality set in. To further our commitment to this end, we welcome all active duty, reserve, and national guard into friendly lines. The sooner a servicemember or veteran gets connected to a network of like-minded individuals with a common experience, the better we guard against the well-worn path toward a terminal end. Additionally, financial situation is not a barrier to entry, either. All of our programs and services are free of cost to our members. Lastly, given our community solution to the problem of veteran suicide, we need the entirety of the community to join us in this effort. Our veterans who have overcome obstacles have valuable lessons to share. Our veterans who have found personal, professional, financial, and familial success can inspire those seeking similar ends. Our veterans who are still trying to find their footing and determine their aim benefit from those who have already walked the path. This methodology, proven and validated over several decades of research, is life-saving to those receiving lessons, and life-giving to those who can be of service to their fellow servicemembers. A rising tide lifts all boats.
As Patrol Base Abbate enters its fifth year of operations, we can confidently state that we are providing life-saving, life-changing impact in the lives of our members whom we’ve been able to reach. Our testimonials reinforce our founding hypothesis, and our growing body of impact data validates our methodology. After four years of credible impact, we know our approach, while seemingly simple, is both unique and effective. As such, we must protect it, resource it, and foster it.

Patrol Base Abbate aims to reach all veterans and provide them the opportunity to reconnect and form a community with fellow veterans around shared interests. On this foundation of connection, our veterans recalibrate their focus on their next best chapter. In the community of Patrol Base Abbate, veterans rediscover their purpose in service to themselves, their families, and their communities.
Patrol Base Abbate fulfills our commitment to our members through two pathways: Interest-Based Clubs and Local Chapters. These two opportunities for engagement serve as lead-ins to our premier programming.

Our needs, in priority order are staffing, programming, and property improvements:
Staffing- 6 FTE and 1 PTE at $556,500/yr
Programming- 10x programs/yr at $25,000 each
Property Improvements- $250,000 (ADA compliance, replace off-grid battery bank and backup generator, upgrade inverters, increase storage capacity

Our Return To Base program is based in Thompson Falls, Montana and our local chapters are nationwide. Our top local chapters are based in TX, IL, AZ, CA, CO, and NV. Our local chapters will continue to grow based on location of our growing membership.

Dear Friends, Supporters, and Fellow Veterans,
In 2024, Patrol Base Abbate solidified its position as a national leader in the veteran space. We brought more than 200 veterans to our permanent base in Montana to experience a world-class program that remains unmatched in the veteran nonprofit sector—especially in its accessibility and inclusivity. Nestled within 200,000 acres of national forest, our 60-acre sanctuary has become a place where veterans reconnect with themselves, each other, and their purpose.
We are proud to say that our approach works. Using clinical gold-standard tools, we’ve seen statistically significant improvements in wellness, life satisfaction, relationships, and resilience among our members. But beyond the data, veterans describe their time with us as “life-changing” and “life-saving.” That’s the impact we strive for—and it’s made possible by your unwavering support.
Our mission is proactive, not reactive. While many organizations respond to crisis, we operate upstream—creating environments that harness community, connection, and purpose to guard against negative downstream mental health outcomes. We bring veterans together through shared interests—book clubs, hunting, music, jiu-jitsu, and more—helping them rediscover the meaning and camaraderie often lost after service.
Our doors are open to all who’ve raised their right hand—combat veterans, non-combat veterans, reservists, and active-duty alike. At Patrol Base Abbate, it’s not about how you served, but because you served. This year, we grew in every way—more participants, more programs, more chapters.
But the demand continues to outpace our resources. To meet it, we must expand our staff, strengthen our infrastructure, and build a permanent endowment to secure this sanctuary for future generations. If we are to deliver top-tier programming at a remote base, operate 40 local chapters across the country, and sustain a vibrant, 10,000-strong veteran community, we must grow our team.
What began around a fire has become a nationwide movement. And with your continued support, we’ll ensure that every veteran who needs a place to refit finds it here.

Thank you for walking point with us, for believing in this mission, and for standing shoulder to shoulder with those who’ve served.

See you at the fire.

Return to Base,
Thomas Schueman
Founder & President
Patrol Base Abbate