Two Checkpoints to Home.
The Athena Journey
Outdoors. Reflection. Challenge. Leadership. Sisterhood.
The Athena Foundation was born from a simple belief: women veterans and servicemembers need each other.
Through our Two Checkpoints to Home journey, we bring women together in squad-sized communities to reconnect with the teamwork, purpose, and sense of belonging that military service once provided.
Over three years, Athena and its partners will create opportunities for women to challenge themselves, reflect on their leadership, and build relationships that continue beyond the retreat experience.
The goal isn't simply to bring women together for a few days.
It's to build a community of women who continue to show up for one another, grow as leaders, and make a difference in the communities around them. that are formed through military service can also be formed post-service with each other so that that we can reawaken all we once knew—teamwork, purpose, mission, a calling.
Checkpoint 1. The Reawakening with Athena | Cairn | RTB at Patrol Base Abbate
TBD Montana
This is where your Athena journey begins. In partnership with Patrol Base Abbate and Cairn Leadership, together we will host a transformative Athena | Cairn| RTB weekend—a time for reflection, connection, and reawakening in the Montana mountains at Patrol Base Abbate.
Over the weekend, we will come together to honor those who have served and sacrificed, like Sergeant Matthew Abbate. We will share stories, challenge ourselves in the outdoors, and reawaken a sense of purpose and camaraderie that the service once provided. Together, a sisterhood will be formed through group discussion, reigniting our individual leadership journeys, embracing quiet moments, and most certainly, sharing in tears and laughter.
To have the greatest impact on those that attend, we keep the teams to a squad-sized element, so space is limited.
Checkpoint 2. The Transcendence with Athena | Grand Teton Mountains
September 17-22, 2027
Checkpoint 2 brings the Tribe back together to recognize how far they have come, take stock of who they are now, and imagine what could be next.
Rooted → Ready → Rising
Through reflection, outdoor experiences, intentional conversations, and time together, women identify the strengths, skills, relationships, and resources they already carry—and begin to explore where they want to go from here. Rather than prescribing a single path forward, Checkpoint 2 creates space to dream bigger, choose what deserves their attention, and identify meaningful next steps.
Most importantly, women begin to see the Tribe itself differently: not simply as a community they belong to, but as a powerful network of women with experience, expertise, connections, and a willingness to help one another grow.
Women leave Checkpoint 2 more grounded in who they are, clearer about what they want to move toward, and connected to women who will walk with them as they do.
I know where I’ve been. I know who I am. I know my Tribe. We grow together to make a difference.
The Homecoming. The Athena Gala.
More information will be available soon.
The Journey So Far
Tribe25. The First Awakening with Athena | Cairn | RTB at Patrol Base Abbate | September 2025
This was the first weekend and first selected squad that started the movement. Please watch the documentary to feel the impact of this moment in time.
Tribe26. Awakening with Athena | Cairn | RTB at Patrol Base Abbate | August 2026
Tribe26 continued the movement, bringing together another selected squad of women to begin their Athena journey and build lasting connections and sisterhood.