STILLWATER, Okla. — The physical rigor of military boot camp served as valuable training for participants in the mentally exhausting Veterans Entrepreneurship Program at Oklahoma State University, an eight-day crash course on all things business.

The program graduates its third class on Saturday, culminating more than one week of extensive training for disabled military veterans seeking to start their own business. Participants came from across the country, 44 in all — the largest class yet, according to Michael Morris, the program’s founder and head of OSU’s School of Entrepreneurship.

Much of the program applies the same basic lessons taught in the OSU entrepreneurship school — only in a much more condensed period.

“We’ve been working with people and helping to start their ventures for a long time, so we have a pretty solid sense of what they need to be exposed to and what types of presentations work,” Morris said. “Moreover, we’re able to draw from some of the real masters and experts. Our basic approach is rock solid and it’s produced some pretty good results even in the short three years we’ve been doing the program here in Oklahoma.”

Matt Gray, 29, of Oklahoma City, spent six years in the Army and National Guard before heading back to the workforce less than two years ago. As he seeks to start up his own mobile grill cleaning company called BBQ Grillest, Gray said the entrepreneurship program has proven invaluable even if it’s been a bit strenuous at times.

“Professor Morris says it best: ‘It’s like a fire hose of information coming right at you,’ and it really is,” Gray said. “It’s almost overwhelming, but I think they do it this one week because of our background and the stresses we’ve been through. They know we can handle it and won’t break.”

Participating veterans have received instruction from a variety of entrepreneurship educators and business owners. The program is free for veterans, including transportation, books, food and accommodations.

It is one of many programs available for entrepreneurial veterans when they return home, said Vincent Willis, 33, of Oklahoma City, but this course separates itself because of the 10-month mentoring program that follows this week’s boot camp.

Willis spent 10 years working in Air Force air traffic control. When he’s not designing air traffic procedures for the Federal Aviation Administration, he’s working on his own start-up company. EZ Software Solutions seeks to help smaller businesses with online training and develop their websites, Willis said.

He already has gained one client in Gray, who will rely on Willis to help build his company’s website. It’s among the many partnerships and friendships being forged as a result of this week’s program.

In fact, many of the veterans have reverted to old patterns, Willis said, by dropping the professional posturing to have fun with their fellow veterans — regardless of military background.

“We’ve all been in the same place. We may have been in different situations, but we’ve all been there,” Willis said. “We all know what it’s like, and we all have the same temperament and know what we can take. It’s actually like going back to your high school reunion, but it’s people you don’t know. You just fall back into it.”

Willis and Gray agreed that Oklahoma has mostly been shielded from the recession, and they expect to succeed thanks to their training from OSU’s free program. Those coordinating the program have equally high expectations for participating veterans.

“We put huge responsibility on their shoulders,” Morris said. “If we don’t see ventures start becoming sustainable or making money, this is a big failure — and that’s just not an option.”