The Normandy Passage
Ordinary Men. Extraordinary Courage
The Normandy Passage is a seven day leadership crucible in Normandy, France. Fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, committed adult pairs, and select solo adults move, train, and reflect together on the ground where the Normandy campaign was decided. Phones are locked, comfort is earned, and every mile is led by combat tested cadre and trained historians. On this ground, character is not discussed. It is proved.
What are you stepping into
The Normandy Passage is a seven day leadership crucible on D Day ground in Normandy, France. Fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, and committed adult pairs live, move, eat, and train together under combat tested cadre. This is not tourism. It is not reenactment. It is earned ground.
Phones are locked away. Comfort is earned through miles, weather, and honest work. Museums become classrooms. Fields and villages become the backdrop for hard conversations that usually never happen at home.
You come here to close distance. Distance between generations. Distance between what you say you believe and how you actually live. You leave with shared fatigue, shared memories, and words that were hard to say before and possible now.
Who this passage is for
The Normandy Passage is built for people who are ready to do hard things together, not for spectators. We accept small cohorts so that every pair is known by name and held to the same standard of honesty, effort and respect.
We welcome:
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Fathers and sons, ages fourteen years and up
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Mothers and daughters, ages fourteen years and up
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Committed adult pairs such as siblings, lifelong friends or relatives
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Select solo adults eighteen and older, matched with a partner by age and maturity band
Every participant arrives as an individual, but no one moves alone. You train, eat, stand watch and reflect as a pair, inside a class that learns to carry its weight together.
Read this before you apply
This is not tourism and it is not reenactment. Movement is capped and managed, but the week will test your fitness, your discipline and your willingness to be honest in front of the person beside you.
You are a fit for this course if you are willing to:
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Prepare for the physical standard
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Follow veteran cadre without ego
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Treat churches, farms and cemeteries as sacred ground
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Protect your partner and the class before yourself
You will find full fitness and admissions details on the Admissions page.
Program at a Glance
A veteran led crucible on D Day ground. Reverent, Demanding, Not Dangerous.
Duration
7 Days / 6 Nights
Location
Sainte Mere Eglise, Normandy, France
Who it is for
Father–son, mother–daughter, adult pairs, vetted solo 18+
Cadre
Special Forces veteran led (former SOF)
Cohort size
6–8 pairs per cohort
Tone
Not tourism. Not reenactment. Earned ground.
Motto: Reverence. Fortitude. Virtue.
Purpose
This is a controlled rite of passage, not a tour. Movement is paced, risk is managed, and reverence is enforced. No theatrics in sacred spaces and no drills inside cemeteries or memorial interiors. The goal is simple. Build trust, honesty, and accountability between people who will have to carry each other long after this week is over.
Experience arc
Over seven days you move through a clear arc. Small team problem solving and communication. Terrain study and movement discipline. Decisions under pressure with real accountability. Field care principles in appropriate settings. A night capstone to earn comfort. A final day of reverence at cemeteries and memorials. The detailed schedule stays internal. You see the themes, not the playbook.
Standards at a glance
Movement is capped at ten miles per day, with no more than about seven miles in any single evolution. Shuffle standard is about twelve minutes per mile in boots, with a fitness test that includes push ups, sit ups, air squats, pull ups, and a one mile run in boots and utility pants. Phones are locked from Day 1 until the morning of Day 7. Sacred sites and French communities are treated as they should be, with quiet discipline and respect.
A Day Inside The Normandy Passage
Day Rhythm
Morning: Colors, standards, first movement
Mornings begin with wake up, colors, a short standards reset, and basic PT scaled to the cohort. You kit up, check your Pair, and step off as a class. Movement is paced, capped in distance, and shadowed by a safety vehicle.
Midday: Ground and story
You spend extended blocks on D Day ground town squares, causeways, beaches, and fields under trained historians. Museums are classrooms, not attractions. Cemeteries and churches are entered clean, squared away, and quiet.
Afternoon: Field work and reflection
Afternoons focus on small team movement, navigation, decision making, and basic field care in appropriate open ground. You move, solve problems, and then stop to write, debrief, and hear from cadre about what your choices say about your leadership.
Evening: Firelight and the journal
Nights are for hot chow when it is earned, fireside talks, and journal work. Prompts escalate across the week. Conversations move from logistics to fear, anger, shame, duty, and love. The covenant holds those stories. Phones stay locked until Reverence Day.
Why We Build Days This Way
Here is a slightly longer version that will visually balance the left side without getting wordy:
Every day in The Normandy Passage follows the same spine. Instruction. Movement. Work. Reflection. You see real ground, do real work as a Pair, and then sit with what it means. Exact routes, times, and sequences stay internal by design.
The schedule is fixed for a reason. Every evolution, water halt, museum window, and reverence block is placed to carry you from small team basics to night work to a final day of quiet on hallowed ground. Movement is capped, risk is managed, and reverence is enforced so that the week is demanding but never careless with people or place.
The aim is not exhaustion for its own sake. The aim is shared miles, shared fatigue, and shared words that were hard to say before and possible now. Families should leave knowing that trust was earned, not assumed, in how we used every hour on this ground.
The Normandy Passage lives in a real town, in a real house, and in canvas GP Medium tents on real ground that still carries the weight of June 1944.
Sainte-Mère-Église
Sainte Mere Eglise was one of the first towns liberated on D Day and it remains a working French community, not a stage set. Church bells, farm roads, drop zones and causeways are part of daily life here. The Passage uses this town and the surrounding countryside as its classroom. Students learn to move through streets, fields and local businesses with respect, discipline and clear standards for how we represent DLA in public. This is where you will buy bread, hear French spoken, and feel how close history and normal life still sit together.
The Charity House And Camp
Students do not start the week in bunks. They live in GP Medium tents on cots in the field and move in and out of the house only for briefs, chow and evening work. The tents are dry, ordered and supervised, but they are still tents. Comfort is simple and earned.
If the cohort upholds the standard through the crucible, they transition into bunks inside the house on the second to last night. That move is intentional. It marks progress, not privilege. The charity house itself is purpose built. Common rooms hold meals, talks and journal work. The kitchen is run by an on site manager and chef so cadre can stay focused on training and safety. The house is not a hotel. It is base camp and final harbor after days that have been properly spent.
The Normandy Passage is not a loose “leadership trip.” Every evolution is built on five DLA pillars. Students hear these early in the week and see them enforced in the field, in town and inside the tents.
Lead from the front
Someone steps off first, owns the standard and takes the hard job without being told. Students rotate who carries weight, who briefs and who takes responsibility when things go wrong.
Plan for chaos
Routes change, plans break, weather shifts. Students are expected to adjust without complaint, keep their Pair oriented and protect the mission instead of clinging to the original plan.
Preparation
Reps are done before the moment matters. Packing kit correctly, rehearsing simple drills, reviewing maps and notes and showing up on time are treated as leadership, not housekeeping.
Empathy
On this ground empathy is not softness. It is the discipline to see civilians, farmers, French hosts and even former enemies as human beings who carried their own weight and losses in this campaign.
Total commitment to mission
Once an objective is set the class is expected to finish it, inside safe limits, without quitting on themselves or each other. Comfort comes after the work is done, not before.
Who Leads You On This Ground
Cadre
The Normandy Passage is led by combat tested Special Forces veterans who know this ground and this work. Cadre carry the standard, set the pace, and keep the week controlled. They brief every evolution, shadow movement with vehicles, and make the hard calls when safety or discipline demands it. There is no swagger and no show. Their job is simple: teach, protect, and hold every pair to the same bar.
Historians and Local Stewards
On D Day ground, facts matter. Students learn under trained historians with deep knowledge of Normandy in the Second World War. They walk town squares, causeways, and museums with people who live this history, not with a tour script. Local partners and caretakers help us respect French communities, secure permits, and keep sacred sites quiet and squared away.
Safety is discipline. Discipline is respect.
We are not here to get anyone hurt. Movement is capped. Water, surf, cold, traffic, and fatigue are treated as hazards, not thrills. A medic is on the ground. Vehicles trail longer movements. Anyone who cannot safely continue is pulled from evolutions. The aim is shared hardship and honest growth, not risk for its own sake.
Admissions Overview
Who We Enroll
The Normandy Passage runs with a small, accountable cohort. Seats are available for:
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Father and son pairs, sons ages 14 and up
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Mother and daughter pairs, daughters ages 14 and up
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Committed adult pairs, both 18 or older, such as siblings, relatives, or lifelong friends
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Solo adults, 18 or older, confirmed only when matched with another vetted solo of similar age and maturity band
Each pair is treated as one accountable unit. Cohorts run with 6 to 8 pairs and do not launch below the safety and quality minimum.
Fitness and conduct standards
This is field work on real ground, not a sightseeing tour. Every participant must be able to:
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Move up to 10 miles in a day, with no more than about 7 miles in any single movement
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Run 1 mile in boots and field pants in 12 minutes or less
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Meet minimums on the Physical Standards Test:
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45 push ups in 2 minutes
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45 sit ups in 2 minutes
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45 air squats in 2 minutes
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Pull ups: 6 for men, 3 for women
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Live under the discipline model: phones secured until Day 7, scored inspections, “Drop” means 10 push ups with recovery on “Feet,” tents and cots before bunks, strict reverence in churches, cemeteries, and memorials
How Enrollment Works
Enrollment is straightforward and standards driven.
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Choose a cohort date and seat type.
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Review and acknowledge the fitness and conduct standards.
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Place your deposit to reserve the seat.
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Complete the electronic packet that covers terms, code of conduct, risk, refunds, and media and data protection.
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Pay the remaining balance before the refund window closes and receive your arrival window, meet point, and final checks.
Solo participants who are 18 or older hold a Pending seat until matched with another vetted solo. If a safe match is not possible by the deadline, we provide a clean transfer path into a later cohort instead of leaving you in limbo.
You are not booking a trip.
You are choosing the ground where who you are gives way to who you will become.
The Normandy Passage is running in a limited pilot year with small, vetted cohorts. Seats go first to pairs and solos who understand that this is not tourism, not reenactment, and not a box to check for a résumé. It is a week that will change how you see courage, responsibility and each other.
If you have read this far and still feel the pull, that is your cue. Read the full admissions details, check the standards with your doctor and your calendar, then decide together whether you are ready to stand on this ground.