Because when the children leave, Camp Southern Ground does not simply shut down until the following summer.
Its focus changes.
When Summer Ends, Veterans Arrive
For much of the remainder of the year, the property becomes a place serving veterans and military families.
This part of the mission has also received independent media attention.
People reported in 2024 on Brown's longstanding commitment to veterans, noting that he founded Camp Southern Ground in Fayetteville and that the organization provides both programs for children from military families and specialized programs for veterans.
FOX 5 Atlanta reported even earlier, in 2017, that Camp Southern Ground was serving veterans and their families as they transitioned from military service into civilian life.
That transition can involve challenges that are difficult for civilians to fully understand.
Military life often provides a strong structure.
There is a mission.
There is a chain of command.
There are clear responsibilities.
There is a unit.
There is an identity connected to service.
Then, sometimes relatively quickly, that structure disappears.
A service member who knew exactly where they belonged may suddenly have to answer a very different set of questions.
What comes next?
Where do my skills fit?
What career should I pursue?
What gives me purpose now?
How do I find a community that understands what I have experienced?
How do I move forward without abandoning the identity that shaped so much of my life?
Camp Southern Ground's veteran programs are built around helping participants navigate questions like these.
Zac Brown's Commitment to Veterans
Brown's interest in supporting veterans extends beyond the camp itself.
In its 2024 profile, People reported that Brown has maintained a tradition of meeting veterans before Zac Brown Band concerts and highlighted his broader involvement in supporting military communities.
In 2026, People again reported on Brown's continuing military advocacy, tracing it from earlier efforts supporting troops to the creation of Camp Southern Ground in 2011 as a Georgia facility serving youth and veterans.
Brown also explained his motivation directly in his Forbes interview.
He said he had met many remarkable veterans and had come to understand the difficulty some experience when trying to transition back into civilian life and regain a sense of being needed.
That idea—feeling needed again—is central to understanding the veteran side of Camp Southern Ground.
A veteran's challenge is not necessarily a lack of ability.
In many cases, the opposite is true.
Years of military service may have developed leadership, discipline, teamwork, resilience, technical expertise and the ability to perform under intense pressure.
The challenge can be figuring out how those abilities translate into the next chapter.
Finding Purpose After the Uniform
Camp Southern Ground currently operates several programs for veterans and military families, including Warrior Week, Warrior PATHH and Warrior Family Camp. The organization says these programs are designed to help veterans and their families find community, direction, purpose and support.
The emphasis on purpose is significant.
Leaving military service is not simply changing employers.
For some veterans, it means leaving behind an entire way of life.
The uniform represented something.
The unit represented something.
The mission represented something.
The people serving alongside them may have become closer than friends.
Civilian life can therefore require more than finding employment.
It can require rebuilding identity.
That is why veteran transition programs increasingly look beyond the simple question of, "How do we get someone a job?"
Employment matters enormously.
But so do relationships, health, financial stability, community and a sense that one's life continues to have meaning.
Camp Southern Ground's programs attempt to address that broader picture.
Warrior Week
One of the organization's primary transition programs is Warrior Week.
The program is designed around helping veterans and transitioning service members develop direction for life after military service.
Rather than treating participants as people whose military experience needs to be left behind, the approach encourages them to identify strengths developed through service and consider how those strengths can be used in civilian life.
That distinction matters.
A veteran does not stop being a leader simply because they are no longer wearing a uniform.
Someone who learned to operate under pressure does not lose that ability on their final day of military service.
The question is how to translate those skills into a new environment.
This is where purpose becomes as important as employment.
A person may be capable of obtaining a job and still feel disconnected.
They may earn a paycheck but continue wondering what they are working toward.
They may have a family and still miss the intense sense of community that existed within their unit.