Retired Marine Corps Captain Jason Haag is a wounded combat veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is co-founder and CEO of Leashes of Valor and team captain for The Valor Cup.

For Phil Hebner, The Valor Cup is a home game. The charity golf tournament tees off within walking distance of his home, which is located alongside the second and third holes of the Federal Club Golf Course in Glen Allen, Virginia.

“I pretty much just walk out the door and start playing,” Hebner says. “The clubhouse is maybe a quarter-mile away. It’s very convenient.”

Hebner, 53, joined the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves in 1989 and left six years later as a corporal. These days he describes himself as “a jack of all trades, master of none.” 

After high school, he spent a year at Old Dominion University in Norfolk but decided he wasn’t ready for college and didn’t have a clear direction in mind for his career. He enlisted in the Marines and was trained to serve as a helicopter crew chief. He deployed in Desert Shield and Desert Storm, serving in support and re-supply roles. 

“It’s an incredible maturing opportunity,” he says. “The level of responsibility you’re given in the military, right out of boot camp, is very high. I was 20 when I got out of boot camp, and at 21 I was the crew chief of a helicopter on a multi-million dollar platform, responsible for the pilots, passengers and cargo during flight operations.”

Chris Herrbach is a proud husband and father of two amazing daughters. He served in the United States Army from 1999 to 2003, rising to the rank of corporal. During his time in the military, he played golf on the All-Army Golf Team. He continued to serve his country as a deputy sheriff and now as an intelligence analyst with the United States Marshals Service.

Chris is a professional golfer with 19 professional wins to his credit. He regained his amateur status in 2012 and still enjoys the competition and peace that competitive golf brings him. He has shot a career low score of 60 twice and has had six hole-in-ones in his career, with the unique statistic of three of those coming on Par 4s. Chris is the current Club Champion at Fawn Lake Country Club in Spotsylvania, VA.

Beyond his achievements in golf, Chris is determined to help veterans and 1st responders deal with the stresses of their careers by creating opportunities for them to connect through golf. He maintains the strong belief that golf can serve as a powerful catalyst for healing, camaraderie, and personal growth. He understands the therapeutic benefits of golf, both mentally and physically, and leverages the sport to create meaningful and impactful experiences for its participants. Chris volunteers as the Director of Golf for the American Heroes Foundation, a non-profit based in Phoenix, Arizona.

Four decades in the military and law enforcement took their toll on Jim Herring. He underwent surgeries to repair his shoulders, knees, hips and elbows. He even had two spinal fusions. 

So it made sense that he would sell his motorcycle. He figured his days of riding a bike were done. Herring kept his golf clubs, though.

“After I play, I have to ice everything,” Herring says. “I put ice on my knees and my elbows and my wrists. But it’s worth it. Golf is my hobby. It’s my thing.”

Herring, 61, grew up in the Richmond area but now lives in Roanoke Rapids, N.C. When he graduated high school in 1979 he didn’t much like the construction work he was doing so he enlisted in the U.S. Army’s military police training center at Fort McClellan, Alabama.

He figured the military would be good for a few years and then he would move into law enforcement. Instead, he made a career out of both — serving in the Chesterfield County, Va., police department for 28 years and deploying to the Middle East several times as a Special Forces reservist before retiring from the Army this summer as a Chief Warrant Officer 5.

His Army decorations include the Bronze Star and Silver Star with Valor, as well as the Purple Heart.

He is still figuring out what will fill his time in retirement, but when Herring looks back he has a clear picture of his life to this point.

“My entire adult life has been spent in service of my country and my community,” he says. “I don’t know any different.”

Two months after Sept. 11, 2001, Alvin King left for Afghanistan, eager to make a difference after the unprecedented terror attacks.

It was also personal.

“My first baseball coach was a firefighter and was part of the initial wave to go into the Towers. He didn’t make it out that day,” said King, who lives in Blythewood, South Carolina. “I grew up in Brooklyn and had friends and relatives who are firemen and first responders. My mom also worked in Manhattan, just a few blocks from the Towers.”

King had joined the Army in 1998, beginning a 20-year military career that included deployments twice more to Afghanistan and three times to Iraq in addition to Africa, Jordan, Turkey and Bosnia.

King served as a senior intelligence advisor. That gave him the opportunity to meet local leaders and learn just enough of multiple different languages — Swahili, Dari and Pashto among them — to converse.

Upon retiring as a First Sergeant, King started his own leadership consulting business and founded Range Fore Hope Foundation, a nonprofit that serves the entire veteran community and their families. Like Leashes of Valor, Range Fore Hope focuses on the effects of post-traumatic stress disorders and uses competitive golf as a healing tool.

The foundation’s two annual tournaments, King Fore a Day and Fairways to Freedom, raise funds to offset the costs of free golf instruction. In September, King will host the Inaugural Palmetto State Adaptive Golf Open, a South Carolina statewide adaptive golf tournament.

King learned about the Valor Cup through his own charity work that connected him with Leashes of Valor CEO/Founder Jason Haag and Program Head Chris Bowers.

“We’re very likeminded,” King said. “We’re about helping veterans and their families and want to give back and serve.”

King has also written a book: “Purpose Fulfilled: A Guide to a Life Well Lived.” It’s not an autobiography, he says, but rather a book meant to promote thought. Yet the title is fitting for the Army combat veteran who is inspired to serve in everything he does.

King and his wife, Dina, have been married 24 years. Both of their children are high achievers. Their daughter, Araesia a Temple Law School graduate, is a lawyer in Philadelphia, and their son, Jalen, graduated from Yale University and is applying to medical school. King also raised his brother, Ryan, after their father died abruptly. Ryan is in the Air Force and married with two children.

“There’s so much life going for me,” King said. “It’s been a really cool ride. I’m blessed.”

John “Sparky” Callaway Little II served in the Air Force from 2007 to 2011 as a Security Forces/Armorer and also spent time working within Central Command (CentCom) and Special Operations Command (SOCOM).

John started playing golf with his father, Joe, on the weekends at Lakewood Golf Course mainly because it backed up to their home. At age 10, he decided to pursue golf and earned golfing mentorship by working in the cart barn and on the driving range at Bull Creek Golf Course. At 14, he met John Godwin, a PGA Master Teaching Professional. Godwin was very influential in helping John become an accomplished junior golfer.

John played college golf at Auburn University and Georgia State University before joining the military. In 2008, John continued his golf career while serving in the Air Force, winning the USAF golf trials in 2008 and the Armed Forces Championship in 2009. John went on to represent the USA in 2008 and 2009 at the CISM (World Military Games), earning two gold medals as a member of Team USA.

In 2010, John was given a sponsor for an invite to play in the PGA Tours Valero Texas Open. “It was an experience like no other, like living in a dream for a week: courtesy cars and private locker rooms are along way away from dorm rooms, barracks, and Humvees.”

Today, he enjoys golfing as leisure and playing in veteran charity events including those that benefit veteran-owned businesses and ensure veterans have access to health care benefits such as service animals. Currently, John is vice president of operations at ATMCentral. He is the father of two boys, 13-year-old Tripp and 8-year-old Lennon.

In 1988, Scott McDonough was a college dropout tending bar in South Florida and starting to feel burnt out from the long, late hours. That’s when he decided to join a couple of his friends who were enlisting in the U.S. Army.

“It was really just an impulsive thing,” McDonough says. “I wanted to do something different and I figured it was worth a shot. And, well … 26 years later …”

Twenty-six years later he retired from the Army as a Master Sergeant with a bachelor’s and a master’s degree. He deployed seven times, including four deployments to Afghanistan and one to Iraq, and earned two Bronze Stars, a Legion of Merit and many other medals and awards.

Much of his work with the Army was as a career counselor, working on retention and re-enlistment. It wasn’t hard for him to find motivation for those sales pitches, considering the effect the Army had on his own life.

“It settled me down and matured me right away,” McDonough says. “It showed me how to become a leader. In the Army, you either become a leader or it doesn’t work out — it’s up or out. It gave me a lot of drive.”

Today McDonough, 59, is a civilian with the Army, working as a program manager for the 1st Special Forces Command Foreign Language training division. 

Chris Bowers enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in September of 2003. Chris was injured in Iraq in 2008, which resulted in the amputation of his left leg, a severely injured back, and a Traumatic Brain Injury. After years of physical rehabilitation, countless surgeries and procedures, Chris retired from the United States Marine Corps in November 2011.

The game of golf was key to Chris’ recovery. Having never played the game, Chris was eager to learn and grow both physically and mentally. His golfing journey led him to sit on two Board of Directors for national non profits, in an effort to help as many brothers and sisters as he could. Chris found his home with Leashes of Valor in 2021, and now serves as Programs Director, and the Valor Cup Tournament Director.

“I am incredibly humbled and honored to be a part of this team. I’ve never seen a more dedicated group of people, working together to change the lives of our wounded a disabled veterans.”

Jerry Browning, is an 85-year-old Marine Corps veteran from Urbana, Ohio. Jerry proudly served three years in the Marine Corps and continues to live a life full of purpose and passion.

Jerry is married to his wife, Cathy, and together they have raised a large family, including eight children, 14 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Beyond his dedication to family, Jerry enjoys woodworking, a hobby that allows him to express creativity and skill with his hands.

Jerry’s journey with golf began in the early 1960s, and since then, he has nurtured a love for the game that has spanned decades. He became involved with the Valor Cup Tournament Series through his role as a team member and is deeply motivated by his support for charitable organizations that assist first responders and military personnel.

Through the Valor Cup, Jerry finds joy in the camaraderie and personal interactions with fellow veterans. His dedication to both the sport and the mission of the tournament reflects his lifelong commitment to service, community, and connection.