Former Green Beret finds peace and success while giving back to other warriors in need

NICEVILLE — Transitioning from a military career to civilian life can be daunting.

For Matthew Docchio, a former Green Beret with the 7th Special Forces, the transition to civilian life was challenging and an opportunity for personal growth. After serving for 19 years, he found a passion that not only helps him cope with the struggles of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder but allows him to give back to his fellow service members.

Docchio has found some measure of peace in wood and epoxy, creating artistic decor for the home through his company Hard AF Wood Designs. He's also started to branch out with a line of clothing, and 5% of the profits go directly to the Wounded Warrior Project to help veterans in need.

From Connecticut to Afghanistan

Docchio spent the early years of his life in Connecticut. For him, his call to serve his country follows the tragic events of 9/11.

"As soon as 9/11 hit, I joined," Docchio said. "I went right into Special Forces off the street. They had a program where guys could try out."

Two months later, he began his first of four deployments with the 7th Special Forces in Afghanistan, where he served as a weapons sergeant and intelligence specialist. In June 2007, he was awarded the Purple Heart for injuries suffered during a mission in Afghanistan.

Docchio went on to train the next generation of fighters by becoming a senior instructor at the Special Forces Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape school for three years.

In 2011, he was reassigned to the 7th Special Forces and was again deployed to Afghanistan and South America. The reassignment eventually brought him to Eglin Air Force Base, which is where he served until his medical retirement from injuries suffered in combat in 2018.

Finding peace at home

For many service members who had time in combat, transitioning to civilian life is harder than one might think.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, 17 veterans took their own lives each day in 2019. The average amount of time following separation from the military for someone taking their own life in 2019 was 47.8 months.

"You don't realize the severity of your PTSD," said Docchio. "You don't realize the severity of the traumas that you went through until you are detached from that safe environment which was with your buddies. My daily life was unmanageable.

"7th (Special Forces) Group, they took care of me. They sent me to many PTSD programs and helped manage my TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury). They took care of me better than I could have ever asked for."

In order to come to terms with everything he had seen, Docchio said that he is in the early stages of writing a book to help share his knowledge with others.

"The book is more for the families than the veteran," Docchio said. "They're the ones who have to deal with it. It is so important that they understand why they are doing what they are doing. A lot of them don't understand it. We had many families reach out and thank us for that."

Docchio said the process of writing his new book has helped him start to close a chapter in his life.

"I've written it for my own health, putting it on paper and putting it to rest," he said. "Then I did a podcast and started thinking about the war I went through within me after the military. There is no cure; you're just trying to get it down to where it is manageable."

Hard AF begins

"I was in Mexico, and there was this wood fish that was at a restaurant for sale. I looked and it was $150. My partner at the time wanted me to get it, and I thought to myself that I could make that. I came home and made the fish; it was horrible. The worst thing I've ever seen. I have never worked with wood before, and I enjoyed doing it.

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From there, in his garage in Niceville, his business Hard AF was born in early 2022.

Over the past year and a half, he has used what he learned in the military and applied it to his business.

"It was work ethic," Docchio said. "I always struggled with that in the military. Once I started something, I could not stop it; I had to finish it. With wood and epoxy, you can't do that. Sometimes you have to let the epoxy sit for 24 hours to let it cure. You have to be patient. Just in a year and a half, the places I used to go for advice, now come to me for it. I put in a lot of work."

"It was a long process of trial and error," Docchio said. "The wood wasn't the difficult part; it was the epoxy. Learning how to work the epoxy, and with every mistake I made, I learned from it."

With him doing the woodworking, he also brought along his daughter to help in this venture.

"Trying to learn social media was foreign to me," Docchio said. "(Isabella) is doing good with it. She understands TikTok and Instagram."

Where to find his products?

Docchio has a space on the floor at DeFrance Antiques on 76 Beal Parkway in Fort Walton Beach.

You can also go to his website, www.hardafwooddesigns.com.

If you are a veteran in crisis or a family member or friend concerned about a veteran, the Department of Veterans Affairs urges you to call 988 and press 1, or text 838255.

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Green Beret veteran builds thriving woodworking business