Former Army medical officer T.J. Laynor knows full well that physical wounds suffered in combat will heal eventually as Soldiers learn to make the necessary adjustments in their lives to cope with their injuries.

However, the mental wounds and damage to their self-confidence can take much longer to heal. Laynor, who did two Iraq tours and one in Afghanistan and suffers from both post-traumatic stress disorder and a combat injury to his eye, recently found a way to help start to heal those mental wounds and now wants to share it with other veterans.

The former captain and his former company commander, Capt. Josh Brandon (an active-duty Soldier from Joint Base Lewis-McChord), recently started the Hound Summit Team, a nonprofit group that specializes in aiding veterans battling PTSD and combat related injuries.

The endeavor started as a group of Soldiers from JBLM who just started climbing mountains but transitioned into something more once each person felt the positive effects conquering a mountain can have on a person.

"It became better than medicine," said Laynor, who now works for Outdoor Research in Seattle. "During the climb, we found our symptoms began to disappear. After coming down from the summit, we had such a rush. It gave us some of that self-confidence back. "  

The group worked as a team to climb mountains in the Cascades, and even scaled Mount Rainier. It took lots of planning and plenty of training, and the group opted not to hire a guide.

"It was like planning for a mission in combat," said the 34-year-old Laynor.

Hound Summit Team, which got its name after the pair's Army company's mascot, is now turning its attention to fundraising for the Summit for Someone climb in June in support of the Big City Mountaineers, and it will host its first two climbs this summer for veterans with combat related injuries. The program has been personally funded through friends, family and the members' own contributions, but it is currently working with some larger companies to expand the program. For more information on the Hound Summit Team, find them on Facebook or make a donation at http://summitforsomeone.org/main.php.