Tim Abell
Honorary Chariman

Tim Abell is the host of the new ESPN2 show Grateful Nation which honors injured veterans by reintroducing them to outdoor sports. A celebrated actor and former US Army Ranger, Tim has been on screen and behind the camera for successful projects including TV series; Soldier of Fortune Inc., JAG, Murder She Wrote, NCIS, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY and many more. Tim also has an extensive motion picture history including such projects as Viva Las Nowhere, Miracle at Sage Creek, We Were Soldiers and the multi-award winning Soldier of God.

At the age of 17 Tim joined the army and thanks to his outstanding leadership skills, weapons skills, woodsman skills and physical fitness he advanced quickly through Basic Training, Advanced Infantry Training and Airborne School at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was assigned to the 2nd battalion, 75th Ranger regiment at Ft. Lewis, Washington as a Ranger after enduring the Ranger Indoctrination Program (RIP). While assigned with 275th Ranger Regiment Tim gained further promotions. He also achieved a substantial number of awards due to his expertise in many varied fields.

Tim completed US Army Ranger School and the Jungle Operations Training Center (JOTC) survival course twice during his tenure, receiving the US Army Jungle Expert badge. He completed and was awarded the West German Fallschirmjaeger military parachutist badge. He attended Survival, Escape, Resistance and Evasion ( SERE) training; Nuclear, Chemical and Biological training; Small Arms armorer training; Foreign Weapons training; anti-armor school training; Scuba and Scout Swimmer qualification; Long Range Target Interdiction training; and Primary Non-Commissioned Officer and Basic Non-Commissioned Officer school.