At the end of May 2012 COMMIT was honored to attend the Special Operations Command Care Coalition Conference. It was a fantastic gathering and discussion of how to make a difference in the lives of our veterans. Below is our Executive Director’s takeaway from the event:

What can non-profits learn from Special Operators?

Last week, the United States Special Operations Command hosted their Care Coalition Conference. The Care Coalition’s mission is to provide SOF warriors and their families a model advocacy program in order to enhance their quality of life and strengthen the overall readiness of Special Operations. They focus on Recovery, Rehabilitation, Reintegration and when required, Transition. The Care Coalition was formed by General (Ret.) Doug Brown and has continuously grown stronger under Admiral (Ret.) Eric Olson and now, Admiral Bill McRaven.

It occurred to me throughout the conference that the non-profits present could actually learn a good deal from the special operators themselves. There is a reason the command is called special - it is, and I don’t know many people who would argue that. I am fortunate to have worked with them since 2004 and one of the first things I learned was that they always put people before hardware, people before programs - - simply said, the operators come first.

SOCOM is known for building programs, platforms and technologies around operators, analysts, requirements and missions. Nothing comes before taking care of the troops. Admiral McRaven and the Care Coalition’s Director Kevin McDonnell are once again leading the pack by getting creative when it comes to rehabilitating, reintegrating and when required, transitioning their special operators out of the uniformed services and into the private sector. They are not trying to fit square pegs into round holes and they are leading by example.

Another important lesson SOCOM instilled in me over the years is that it takes a network of networks to defeat an enemy or a problem. It is extremely heartening to see SOCOM apply the same rule and rigor to ensure that the quality of life and future mission success of retiring warriors is upheld and achieved. Through a coalition of tremendous groups and efforts, we are building programs around individuals and taking care of the troopers that have served us so well. There is no cookie-cutter approach and we will continue to focus on each case individually and make tremendous impact. Only by working together will we move the needle in a way that is ever so deserved by all of our troops.