John Sigler is one of the first past presidents of the National Rifle Association (2007-2009) to join the ORA as a Life Member. Please welcome John as he shares his thoughts and experience at the national, state, and local level in our firearm communities.
It had been a great afternoon. The weather was perfect – hot, and clear. A crowd of well over five hundred Second Amendment patriots had gathered on the mall in front of Legislative Hall in Delaware’s state capitol to rally in support of Firearm Freedom and to protest the package of bills the anti-gun crowd was attempting to push through during the closing days of the legislative session. They were enthusiastically exercising their First Amendment rights in support of their Second Amendment rights.
Because of my status as both a Past President of the NRA and a past president of our NRA State Association, I had been invited to be one of the afternoon’s keynote speakers. I had just finished speaking to the crowd and had stepped down from the impromptu stage to make my way to the relative coolness of the shade of a large oak tree, when a young man approached me with a big smile on his face and asked if I remembered him. Slightly embarrassed, I admitted that I did not.
A good looking, clean-cut young man, probably in his very early twenties, he identified himself as the son of a lady who had worked for me several years ago – a pleasant surprise. The young man then explained that he had heard that I would be speaking at the rally, and wanted to come see me to thank me for changing his life. Surprised and somewhat confused, I asked “How?”
The young man, whom I will call David – that isn’t his real name – then explained, and as he did so I began to understand and remember.
David’s mother was a single mom, having lost her husband several years before. She and David lived with her mother. His mother came to me for advice, telling me that David, who was fourteen or fifteen at the time, was growing up in a female-dominated atmosphere with no male role models and no male influence, except for some of his friends – friends whom she did not like or trust.
She told me that she wanted to find a way for David to learn that there is more to life than skateboards, cell phones and computer games, asking if I had any ideas that might help her with David. And, she wanted to get David out of Dover for at least part of the upcoming summer. I suggested that she look into the Youth Adventure Camp run by the NRA Whittington Center near Raton, New Mexico.
That was years ago. David was now standing next to me under the shade of that old oak tree telling me how he had gone to the Whittington Center’s Youth Adventure Camp that summer and two subsequent summers and that it was the best experience of his life – that it had actually helped to shape his life.
So, what is the NRA Whittington Center and what is the Adventure Camp?
The NRA Whittington Center is a sprawling 33,300 acre ranch located in the northeastern part of New Mexico, in the high desert foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains where the High Plains meet the Rocky Mountains, just outside the town of Raton.
Contrary to popular belief and the name itself, the NRA Whittington Center is not owned by the NRA but rather by an independent Trust established by the NRA Board of Directors in 1973 called the NRA Special Contribution Fund. The NRA Special Contribution Fund is a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit organization operating solely on donations and range and program fees.
The NRA Whittington Center, named after NRA’s 35th president, George R. Whittington, is primarily designed as an educational and training facility.
Out of concern for the future of America’s youth, the NRA Whittington Center established a Youth Adventure Camp in 1988. The Adventure Camp’s underlying purpose is to teach the safe use and stewardship of firearms. It also teaches leadership, patriotism, marksmanship, respect, teamwork, and camaraderie.
The NRA Whittington Center conducts two 13-day Adventure Camp sessions each summer for youth ages 13 to 17, both boys and girls. Campers learn to shoot on The Center’s 18 ranges, including High Power Rifle Silhouette, Long Range Rifle – up to a mile, trap, skeet and sporting clays, Muzzleloader – bullseye and silhouette, pistol – bullseye and silhouette, and archery. Each camper will fire over 1,400 rounds as a part of the curriculum.
Campers also learn about the outdoors and the animals, birds, and plants native to that area of the country. They learn how the animals live, what they eat and how to track them.
The hunting curriculum focuses on the development of hunting ethics and responsibilities, and includes basic wilderness living and survival skills, knife use, camp preparation and cooking, and game care.
The outdoors living and hunting skills learned by the campers are used in a 3-day campout complete with a “walk-through hunt” using steel targets. A New Mexico State Hunter’s Education program is included.
But most importantly, campers learn to be good citizens and how to live with others and to enjoy the outdoors. They learn teamwork, confidence, self-reliance, and responsibility, and to respect each other and the wildlife who share the earth with us.
David told me that when he arrived at the Whittington Center for that first Adventure Camp experience he did so with an attitude and during those thirteen days he lost that bad attitude and left with an entirely new view of life. He went there not wanting to be there and left wanting to return.
As for David, he and I have stayed in touch since that day at the rally. He is now a young professional, soon to be married and hoping to raise a family of his own someday. He and his wife-to-be are both members of our gun club, our state association, and the NRA. He says he cannot wait until the day when he can send his son or daughter to Raton, New Mexico for the NRA Whittington Center’s Youth Adventure Camp.
They have both told me they are planning a side trip to the NRA Whittington Center as a part of their honeymoon in the Spring.
If you are interested in the NRA Whittington Center Adventure Camp, please go to: www.nrawc.org/events/youth-program. You can also find them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AventureCamp.
I am told that the Adventure Camp is sold out for 2025 but that they have a waiting list. I am also told that The Whittington Center is now taking reservations for the 2026 camping year.
Each of the two camping sessions held each year is comprised of 56 campers. The current cost for the 13-day Adventure Camp is $1,200. When you consider what they get – room, board, instructors and chaperones, and 1,400+ rounds of ammunition and targets – $1,200 is certainly a great deal for a 13-day adventure.
The future of the Second Amendment and American Freedom will soon be in the hands of “the Next Generation.” It is up to us to prepare that “Next Generation” to be productive and patriotic citizens.
Perhaps the NRA Whittington Center’s Youth Adventure Camp might be one of those important building blocks upon which good citizens and devoted American patriots can be built. For David it certainly was.
In the interest of full disclosure and transparency, John Sigler is a Past President of the National Rifle Association of America (2007-2009), a current member of the NRA Board of Directors and a Trustee of the NRA Special Contribution Fund which owns the NRA Whittington Center.
