Nation Of Go

Rob Hyde and Duane Shaw of OL’Skool 4X4 are retired U.S. Army Sergeants First Class who spend their free time off-roading in the desert around El Paso, TX. They both work in civilian roles for the Army now at Ft. Bliss, where they stay connected to the military community through their hobby. We spent a day four-wheeling with OL’Skool and found out that Duane and Rob use their Jeeps to help support local soldiers and their families.

One way is by taking the children of deployed soldiers out for trail rides. It’s the kind of weekend experience kids would love to share with their moms or dads, of course, but thanks to OL’Skool they don’t have to miss out completely. OL’Skool also reaches out directly to servicemen and women on base.



As military men Duane and Rob have an instant level of trust among the soldiers. There’s a strong bond between people in the service – it’s a connection formed by shared experiences. We spoke with four active-duty soldiers who talked about the stress of being under fire in a combat zone. They call it “working downrange.” Only two of the four had ever met before, but you would never know listening to them talk. It sounded like they had been serving together for years.

Duane said that getting soldiers out together on overnight camping trips gives them an opportunity to deal with the toughest parts of serving in the armed forces. There among their fellow soldiers, they feel safe talking about things civilians can’t relate to. For instance, he told us that on a recent trip one of the soldiers we met had opened up for the first time around the campfire. Jason lost a buddy while serving in the Middle East when the vehicle he was traveling in hit an IED. His buddy was the driver and was killed by the blast. Jason was sitting right beside him. When Duane asked Jason to talk to us about it, the look on his face made it clear – our cameras were a far cry from the security of the campfire. And we didn’t need to hear it from him to understand. By reaching out to soldiers like Jason, Duane and Rob are providing invaluable support to those who serve.





Of course it’s not all so serious. Four-wheeling is a good time and sometimes fun is what the doctor ordered. “Soldiers spend 200 nights a year living outdoors,” Duane told us. “When we go camping we’re doing what we already know how to do. Except here nobody has guard duty…and we can drink a few beers if we want to.” The benefit of not getting shot at went without saying.

In addition to helping soldiers, OL’Skool 4X4 serves to connect all the local off-roaders in El Paso. “We’re not a club,” Duane clarified. “We’re a group that tries to bring the clubs and off-roaders here together.” They must be doing something right, because when we rolled into the Camping World RV Center a little after 1030 (Duane operates on military time), rigs already filled the parking lot. Several area clubs and off-road shops were represented and we got lots of great new stickers for the van. The locals brought everything from stock-appearing Jeeps to custom-built rail buggies. We brought our Quigley-prepared Chevy van. With proper introductions made, we all headed out for the ride.

The trail we were taking offered a series of serious rock-crawling challenges, so we sent the van the long way around. Even on the easier trail, the four-wheel drive got a workout. There was definitely no getting out there in a stock van. With the van sent ahead, the rest of us rode along on the trail. We had the cameras out as rig after rig took turns at the major obstacles. Each one crawled, bounced and climbed its way over the rocks while the convoy waited to be sure everyone got through okay. “We don’t leave anyone behind,” Duane smiled. He’s all military.





Families are welcome at all the rides Duane sets up because OL’Skool 4X4 “keeps to traditional values.” On this ride we saw lots of kids running around and a couple of people even brought their dogs. Angel Montes came out with his family to play in a rig he built himself. Duane and Rob limit their upgrades, and the difficulty of trails they ride, to keep it accessible to more people. But Angel wants to go up the crazy stuff. He even converted the small block in his rig to burn propane instead of gas, “Because it will run upside down.” We saw how hard Angel goes and truly believe upside down is in his near future. Special thanks to Angel and his family for bringing out the grill and cooking us steaks in the desert.

Our visit with OL’Skool ended too soon. We had a lot of fun, but knowing we had the long drive to Austin ahead of us, Duane planned our departure for 1500 (three o’clock). Since punctuality hasn’t proven to be our thing, it was closer to 1530 when we got on the road. We left wishing we could have stayed for an overnight campout with OL’Skool. Compared to the eternal drive across Texas on I-10, having a beer around the campfire sounded pretty good.














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