Outward Bound

Outward Bound School, Keremeos, British Columbia. As a young Militia officer, I was one of a group of soldiers sent there to evaluate the training for the Canadian Armed Forces in the early 1970s.

OUTWARD BOUND had been created during World War II, in 1941,  after the organizers had seen the lack of will and stamina among seamen to survive in the Atlantic when their ships were sunk.

The Keremeos Outward Bound school has since been closed but other Outward Bound Schools around the World continue to teach people self-reliance and survival.  “All Canadian Outward Bound courses emphasize the development of two skill sets: first, the enjoyment and sense of accomplishment that come from perfecting the technical skills associated with adventure-based education; second, the development of interpersonal and general life skills.”

We found that the Outward Bound Course was very challenging. Regretfully we recommended that no more soldiers be sent there as the emphasis at the school was on individual survival skills and the will to survive. We felt that the army needed to focus on group rather than individual training.

This does not diminish the importance or desirability of Outward Bound training. Having been on an Outward Bound course, I can highly recommend it. If one is hunting, hiking, travelling (even passenger aircraft end up down in remote areas),would you have the willpower to survive?