Veterans Day Spotlight: Jordan Leitsch

Meet Jordan, Marine Corps veteran and Ravin Program Charity Coordinator

Jordan’s job is to coordinate with beneficiary organizations, assist with hunting excursion logistics so stories can be shared, work fundraising events, and pretty much do whatever’s necessary to keep the support flowing. He’s a big part of what we aim to accomplish and, alongside our other brand ambassadors, he’s one of the public faces of Ravin.

Recently, Jordan and a few veterans visited the Ravin facility to assemble their own crossbows and hit the range with a few Ravin employees. This is just one way we're working to honor the impact veterans have and to amplify the impact the rest of us can have in offering them respect and support.

But who is Jordan Leitsch when he’s not at work?

Jordan’s a Marine, having joined the Corps in 2007 right out of high school. He served in the infantry for four years through two deployments — one in Southeast Asia and then in Afghanistan — before becoming a combat instructor at the School of Infantry - West. Jordan wanted to be part of shaping young infantry Marines and he calls the time he was an instructor the best years he had in the military.

When Jordan got out in 2014, he trained as a firefighter. Injuries sustained in the line of duty made that career impossible, though. Blunt force trauma to his legs resulted in a rare condition that blocked blood flow to the artery behind his knee. In Jordan’s case, his muscles had healed wrong after repetitive injuries and, unfortunately, he ended up having his leg amputated.

That was an adjustment, but one he made it through.

As for his experience hunting, that started in 2014. Back home after his service, Jordan went along on his first hunt with friends in La Crosse County, Wisconsin. And first time out, he bagged a buck. A few years later, a buddy got him up to speed on the etiquette and traditions of hunting — including conservation. He’s been coming home with progressively bigger trophies since then, harvesting a 10-pointer on his second hunt.

Jordan started going to veteran events in 2020, working to pull himself back from battles following several operations and other adjustments. It was at that Helicopters for Heroes event that he met some of the Ravin crew. And it was in that environment that he changed his mindset. He began to recognize himself as an adaptive athlete — someone who can do anything anyone else can, just differently.

As he got more and more involved with Helicopters for Heroes and got to know folks at Ravin better, his fit for the role of Program Charity Coordinator became clear. He dug in on Boot Campaign, Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation, and more — whatever he can do to help other veterans, first responders, and their families get their mindset right and keep climbing. He’s particularly enthusiastic about supporting conservation efforts and educating the public about what conservation does.

If that means he needs to compete in a Boot Campaign Redneck Triathlon firing bowling balls out of a cannon at 55-gallon drums, he’s willing to take that hit.

And if he’s got to accompany one of the auction winners from the last Helicopters for Heroes event on a trip to hunt blacktail deer on Kodiak Island, Alaska with Cole Kramer, he can do that, too. He’ll bring his specially trained service dog Tyr along, as well. Tyr — aptly named after a Norse god who sacrificed his arm — came at no cost from Rescue 22 Foundation, which provides services dogs for veterans. They helped condition Tyr to handle gunfire and other hunting-specific things that might spook a normal service dog.

Jordan’s goal is to keep making Ravin’s charitable work bigger and better. Asked if he’s got any messages for other veterans on Veterans Day, he says it’s not complicated, “It’s okay to not be okay, but you have to ask for help.”

Providing that help is what Jordan’s here to do, offering a hand to those brave enough to ask.