NON-PROFIT PROGRAM

DUSTOFF Ranch

A Place for Peaceful

Refreshing and Relaxation

for all Vets and First Responders.

The Mission That Drives Us

At DUSTOFF Ranch, we want you to feel at home in the beautiful natural surroundings. Our hope is that it gives you a place to relax and refresh and enjoy the outdoors, while healing from the stresses of your jobs and improving your mental health. We want this camp to be a place of recovery, peace, and community – A place to be with people of similar backgrounds. We believe you have earned a reprieve for all the sacrifice and service you give and have given. Our ranch is a place for you to come and be recharged and enjoy yourself while making some fun memories. We invite all military veterans and first responders to come and enjoy.

The Idea Of DUSTOFF Ranch …

It started with a conversation with a fellow vet in a coffee shop, We were talking about how we wished we had services for Vets who didn't want the traditional methods of treatment. We wish there was this type of place for vets and first responders to go to. Which got me to think and asking why not me? What can my wife and I do to help other fellow vets, military members, and the First Responders (fire, police, EMS) to help them cope with loss and stressors of the job as well as PTSD and some outcomes like substance abuse with our veterans and First Responds.

What's In The Name

DUSTOFF?

DUSTOFF was the universal call signal for aero medical helicopter evacuation of wounded during the Vietnam War. The acronym stands for “Dedicated Unhesitated Service To Our Fighting Forces”, and thus truly embodies this particular unit inside the U.S. Army. They are the ones that would swoop in, load, and transport the wounded. They were fast, efficient, fearless, and a pillar of strength and comfort to their fellow soldiers just by their presence. These were the ones who came every time someone radioed for DUSTOFF, it was a call for help that they answered mission after mission.

Get To Know Us

Daniel Jones

I grew up in the Central Valley (farming community) of California. I graduated from high school in 1989 and joined the army in November 1989 starting my career in the military. I had always wanted to do this. After enlisting, I was stationed for 4 years at Fort Carson for training as a combat medic. I then left the Army in 1993 and went to college and paramedic school. I later was a volunteer firefighter from 1993-1998. Soon after, I was hired by the Stockton Fire Department in August of ‘98, as a fire/medic, and I also became a rescue diver, Hazmat, and heavy rescue personnel. In December 2001, I reenlisted into the California National Guard as a flight medic (encouraged to do so by a good friend of mine from work who is already a flight medic).

In 2003, I was deployed to Afghanistan as a flight medic and returned in September 2003. I returned to the Stockton Fire Department and also later became a SWAT medic with the Stockton Police Department. In 2005, I went to Louisiana during Katrina, and that’s when I decided to go to flight school. I left for flight school in November 2006. This is where Cindy and I met at Flight School in Fort Rucker, Alabama in December 2006. Although we didn’t start dating until a year later in November 2007, I knew I was going to marry her the first time I saw her. However, it just took her a little longer to realize it. We were married in October 2008, and I deployed a week later to Afghanistan for a second time. This was the first time as a medical pilot (UH-60) and I came home in October 2009.

I was deployed a few more times, in 2012-13 as a CH-47 pilot, and again in 2020, as a UH-60 Medivac (DUSTOFF) pilot. I returned in October 2020, and retired from the Stockton Fire Department in December 2020, and went in to the IRR in April 2021. Then in April 2021, I started working for Air Methods.

Cyndi Jones

Cyndi was born in Washington and grew up in Oregon. She attended a Christian school up to 8th Grade, then went to a small public school for high school. She played sports in high school of volleyball, basketball, and track while maintaining good grades and doing random jobs such as pulling rye for farmers or working at a restaurant. She went on to Washington State University, where she was on the Novice Rowing team her Freshman year. That summer, she joined the National Guard and went to Basic Combat Training at Ft. Jackson, SC. She returned to Washington in a “Split Option” program to complete her Sophomore year of college. During this time, she joined the Army ROTC program. The following summer, she attended Advance Individual Training (AIT) at Ft. Lee. She contracted with ROTC upon her return to school in the Autumn and became a Cadet. When she went to drill, which was in an aviation unit, she would job shadow officers and was given small tasks to complete. Being part of the National Guard and ROTC in the Simultaneous Membership Program (SMP) allowed her to get a practical sense of the military leadership training she was receiving at school. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Business, Cyndi was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant (2LT) in the Washington National Guard, within the same aviation unit she worked as a Cadet.

By the grace of God, Cyndi was able to go to flight school within 4 months of waiting when the normal wait was 2 years, due to another person backing out of going to the course. At flight school was a year and a half in southern Alabama at Ft. Rucker going through all the stages of flying. Cyndi graduated with a qualification to fly the UH-60A, Blackhawk helicopter.

While at flight school, she met Dan through mutual friends. They dated for almost a year before getting married in Sacramento, CA in 2008. Dan was coming back from Ft. Rucker and Cyndi was working full time in at Camp Murry, Washington. They meet in Sacramento to put their plans in place, a few days be for the wedding to say “I Do” with family and friends to celebrate. Cyndi and Dan were able to spend a week together before Dan left for his 2nd Deployment to Afghanistan. Their first year of marriage was over the choppy video communication of Skype.

After Dan returned home, Cyndi moved to California and completed an Inter-State Transfer (IST) with the National Guard. She was assigned to an OH-58 unit, and then it changed to UH-72, Lakota (Eurocopter). Cyndi completed aircraft transitions for both airframe. During this time, she also got a full-time job working as the Battalion S1, Human Resource Officer.

Cyndi transitioned to the CH-47F, Chinook, in 2014 before she took command of B CO 1-126th GSAB. She spent 4 years in command to include a deployment to Iraq 2017/18. Upon returning from her deployment, Cyndi saw what an impact being gone made on their two young daughters. She stopped working full-time to stay home with her girls. She continues to serve in the National Guard as a traditional Guardsman on drill weekends.

After she left command, Cyndi moved to the Operations Officer position at the 1106th TASMG, that is responsible for supporting the 13 western states with higher level helicopter maintenance. With over 19 years of service, Cyndi is planning to retire from the National Guard in June 2023.

Josh Gray

Vice President

Josh was born in Ft. Myers, FL and at the age of 6 his family moved to Cookeville, Tn where he would be attending school, enjoy the lake and making friends. In 2007 at 18 years old, Josh decided to join the United States Army where he enlisted as an 11 Bravo aka the Infantry. Just 11 days after enlisting he was off to Ft. Benning, GA where he would attend basic training.

Once I had graduated from basic training I was stationed in Ft. Hood, Texas in 4 ID and shortly was flagged over to 1st Cavalry. About 4 months after being at Ft. Hood, I was deployed overseas to Al Amarah, Iraq. Our main objective during this deployment was to stop the supply chain from Iran to Baghdad. I made a lot of friends that became my brothers for life during this deployment.

Once I returned to Ft. Hood I had a lot of interest in going to some schools, but about 6 months after returning we found out we were coming down on orders to deploy again. I was selected to be PSD “personal security detail” for the Major of our Battalion. At first, I wasn’t too keen on the idea because I was going to be leaving my Platoon that I just spent a deployment with. Ultimately, I got a lot of opportunities to grow my military career and made another group of brothers. I became promotable and eventually was promoted to Sergeant.

We were deployed to Mosul, Iraq where I spent half my deployment as PSD for our commanding officers and eventually went back down to the line to join Bravo company to finish out our deployment. After returning home again, I was ready to get into some schools and almost re-enlisted. Our Battalion came down on orders again to deploy to Afghanistan. I thought long and hard about which direction I wanted to go and after much thought I decided I was ready to start a new journey as a civilian.

I was Honorably Discharged from the Army at 22 years old in 2012 and had spent half my time overseas. There was a lot of good and bad times, but the brothers I made, the discipline I gained and the experiences I had I will remember forever. After being discharged from the Military, I came back home to Tennessee.

Shortly after returning back I found out I was going to be a father. In 2013 my beautiful daughter was born. I spent the next 5 years working in various medical management/sales positions and started a small medical sales company where I worked as an independent contract for laboratories. At the end of 2018 I decided I was ready for something new and jumped right into real estate to become a Realtor.

I have worked in this community ever since, meeting new people and helping them navigate through buying and selling real estate. From primary residence, land, investment properties etc. I have gained a lot of experience. I started a real estate team called The Gray Group, and this was when Daniel & Cindi were referred to me as I helped them find a home. During our search, we got to learn about each other and their military background. Dan had told me a lot about DUSTOFF Ranch. After seeing first hand how hard this family worked not just for themselves but for their children, veterans & families, I was honored when they asked if I’d like to be a part of helping the organization.

It is now 2023, I have an amazing supporting wife Kierra, a beautiful 10-year-old daughter and looking forward to helping to raise awareness not just for The DUSTOFF Ranch but for all Veterans, First Responders and anyone battling with PTSD in our community.

Krystal Heisz

Secretary

Krystal is a Marine Corps veteran, having served in communications as A Field Radio Operator. A deployment to Iraq in 2006 led to being awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for her role in receiving and disseminating near simultaneous nine line requests in critical moments on numerous occasions. Further career advances included 911 dispatching and jail technician work in support of local law enforcement. Krystal holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management and is currently the Adjutant and Women’s Veteran Representative for Amvets Post 44 of Cookeville, Tennessee. Today, she stays busy and committed as a full-time homeschooling mother of two boys. While most recently earning her TEFL Certificate, she is actively pursuing worldwide missions work opportunities with her family.

Corbin Bowman

Media

Hi, my name is Corbin Bowman.

I am lucky enough to work for DustOFF Ranch to produce the media across all social media platforms. I learned how to operate a camera at an early age with the help of several media courses in high school. After graduation, I was lucky enough to get a
1-year internship with the high-end media crew at CrossFit Mayhem. This led to multiple opportunities to work
with great people in multiple fields including Real Estate Investors, Military,
and CrossFit Games athletes. I eventually
plan on making this a career.

You can find me on Instagram, Youtube, or TikTok -

@Corbinbowman02

The Vision That Guides Us

It is our vision to have a dependable place for Military Veterans and First Responders to heal. Healing on the inside is just as important as healing on the outside. We believe a healthy body can contribute to a healthy mindset. Getting out in nature and breathing fresh air while spending time with people with shared experiences can help you on your journey.

Rest & Relaxation

Rest and relaxation is a big part of what we want to provide to those who visit, this helps to refresh and calm. It is our hope that with a renewed peace, a person can then look to take care of themselves. We want to provide ways for someone to start this process by having a fitness gym to address the physical aspect. It is our plan to have classes to provide help to improve the mental and emotional aspect as well. If we can help someone start a routine of taking care of themselves, they can take that into their everyday lives once they leave. Ultimately, all these things will give them an increased quality of life and sense of greater wellbeing.

Healing

Healing mentally is important to us. We want to provide tools and opportunity to allow that to take place while you are with us. We wanted to dedicate this camp to any who serve as first responders and all veterans. You can contact us for any questions concerning this, and we will be glad to answer your questions.

Lodging

We will be offering camping and RV camping until we can get the other phases of our plans going. You are welcome to use our contact information to reach out with any questions you may have. We would be glad to talk with you.

Outdoor Adventure

Walking trails, fishing, and a fitness gym. We hope to add more activities in the near future as we continue to grow. We plan to have camping and RV camping. We are going to have a 5 acre pond stocked with fish for fishing. It is also our plan to have trails for hiking and biking around the camp. In the future, we also plan to build cabins and a building that will house our fitness room and classroom. We hope to have instructors to host fitness and other types of classes beneficial and related to those our camp serves. In a nutshell we have big plans and ideas!

Donate

" I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. "

Philippians 4:13

The Ranch That Houses Us:

Future Plans and Projects

Phase 1

Dig a 5 acre pond to capture water run-off on property and populate with fish for future fishing.
Create a road to the back of the property that runs utilities to the shop and cabins.
Construct tent and RV camp sites across from the pond.
Build bathroom for camp sites.
Build a shop-type building with a gym, bathrooms, and classroom space.