U.S. Army veteran Ed Reichbach, 93, left, greets Vietnam veteran Fred Kalfon, 81, after Kalfon's workout session at the Grey Team veterans center, Wednesday, May 17, 2023, in Boca Raton, Fla. The center is helping veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental and physical ailments get back into the civilian world. BOCA RATON, Fla. — — Before Fred Kalfon began exercising at the Grey Team veterans center a couple months ago, the 81-year-old rarely left his Florida home.
He's among the latest of 700 veterans of all ages working with the Grey Team, a 7-year-old organization combining personalized workouts, camaraderie, community outings and an array of machines in a 90-day program targeted at improving physical and mental health. “What we have created here is really magical,” said Grey Team co-founder Cary Reichbach, 62, a physical trainer and former Army police officer. The goal, he said, is to get the vets off medications for their mental and physical ailments when possible. Even after completing the program, participants can still workout, hang out and participate in outings.
Ohio State University psychologist Craig Bryan, a former executive director of the National Center for Veterans Studies, said the successes of the Grey Team program are not surprising given the selective participant pool. Reichbach’s 93-year-old father, Ed, offers hugs and back slaps to everyone entering the Grey Team lobby. Sometimes the Army vet and former university professor drops to give 10 rapid-fire pushups — a demonstration to give older vets a jolt on their first visit.Upstairs in the center's “safe space” community area, Navy vet Bill Tolle discussed his service as a meteorologist and oceanographer from 1983 to 1990.
He finally was diagnosed in 2016 but didn't get treatment until 2020 through a residential VA program. He then lived at the Salvation Army, which introduced him to the Grey Team.“My thinking was foggy, at best. A lot of short-term memory stuff. I would forget. I can now think things through, resolve things,” he said. “My whole cognitive function is sharper.”