For more than two decades, Joe Monet has served in the Special Operations community, spending much of his career deployed, planning complex operations, and operating at a relentless pace. As an Air Force Combat Controller turned Force Modernization leader within Air Force Special Operations Command, the demands of the mission rarely slow down.
Through every assignment, deployment, and transition, his wife Olivia has remained beside him.
“Over the course of the career he’s gone so much,” Olivia shared. “There’s so much that you go through in this career field that you don’t talk about.”
After more than ten years of marriage and years spent moving from duty station to duty station, the couple finally returned home to Florida last summer. But even with a slower pace waiting at home, truly stepping away from the pressures of military life was not something that came easily.
“Being a Special Operator, you’re always switched on,” Joe explained.
Designed to Give Couples a Break
That constant state of readiness is one reason Operation Healing Forces’ Therapeutic Couples Retreats are intentionally designed to remove the burden of planning and logistics from participating couples.
For many within the Special Operations Forces community, careers are built around preparation, coordination, and carrying responsibility for others. Even when time away becomes available, planning a trip can feel like another task added to an already full plate.
OHF’s Therapeutic Retreat Program allows couples to step away from daily responsibilities and focus on what matters most: reconnecting with one another. Through shared experiences, meaningful conversations, and dedicated time together, couples are given the opportunity to strengthen their relationships in an environment designed for connection and renewal.
For Joe, that aspect of the retreat made an immediate impact.
“One of the biggest things for me was not having to think about anything,” Joe said. “After a long day at work, I don’t want to come home and try to plan a trip. I’m just so bogged down.”
An Experience They Never Expected
Their Therapeutic Couples Retreat in Aspen offered something different: uninterrupted time together, space to reconnect, and the opportunity to experience something that once felt far outside of reach financially.
“Without this opportunity, we would never be able to have those experiences,” Joe shared.
For Olivia, some of the most meaningful moments were found in the simplicity of being together. Learning to ski side by side, encouraging each other on the mountain, and experiencing a new adventure together created a sense of connection that military life had rarely allowed them the time to fully enjoy.
Seeing Each Other Again
While the activities and setting created lasting memories, the greatest impact came from simply having the time and space to be present with one another.
During the retreat, Olivia told Joe something he will never forget.
“She told me it was one of the happiest and most at-peace versions of me she had ever seen.”
For families in the Special Operations Forces community, opportunities to slow down and focus entirely on one another can be rare. Between deployments, training schedules, frequent moves, and the demands of military life, quality time together often takes a back seat to the mission.
Creating Space for Connection
For the Monets, the retreat created space that military life rarely allows. Away from the constant pace of schedules, responsibilities, and operational demands, they were able to reconnect, experience something new together, and focus fully on one another.
That is the purpose behind every Operation Healing Forces Therapeutic Retreat.
By creating opportunities for couples to step away from daily demands and invest in their relationships, OHF helps strengthen the bonds that support long-term family resilience. Sometimes healing begins with something as simple, and as powerful, as time together without the logistics.
