Sound Off

If We Send Them We Must Mend Them

At this hour, a military family is missing a loved one at Thanksgiving. Maybe their soldier, sailor, airman, Coast Guardsman or Marine is away for training. Maybe their loved one is deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, the Southern Border or an undisclosed location. Or perhaps their loved one is one of almost 7,000 Americans – including 24 this year – to return from the Middle East in a flag-draped casket.

As we give thanks, there is no group of Americans who deserve our gratitude more than the one percent of our population that volunteers to serve. Every moment of every day, U.S. troops and their families are making enormous sacrifices to protect the 99 percent of us who don’t wear the uniform, as well as innocent people abroad.

Unless it’s Veterans Day or Memorial Day, it’s increasingly difficult to keep the military’s sacrifices at the forefront of our national consciousness. That’s why this Thanksgiving, the Invictus Foundation is asking you to say a special prayer for our troops, veterans and all military families. Asking God to watch over our heroes is not only appropriate, but will remind everyone at your table that somewhere – at this very moment – an American warrior is defending liberty.

About the Invictus Foundation

Invictus Foundation™ is a national nonprofit organization providing individual and family behavioral health counseling services regardless of their ability to pay to active duty military service members, veterans and their families. Invictus Foundation partners with behavioral health providers across the U.S. to provide improved access and increased behavioral health services to uniformed personnel, veterans and their families

The War After the War

A cut from Mary Gauthier’s brilliant album “Rifles and Rosary Beads.”

Take the time to listen and to reflect. Powerful truths in the lyrics of this song.

We urge those who want to understand how the invisible wounds of war are inflicted upon these men and women to purchase Mary’s Rifles and Rosary Beads. It was nominated for a Grammy Award and its songs speak powerfully to the impact of war on those who fight it on our behalf.

Thanks in advance for your time. And as always, thanks for being a Friend of the Invictus Foundation. It is our goal to inform and educate our readers on the vision and mission of the Invictus Foundation.

INTRODUCTION

I am really excited to have Bryan join the Invictus Foundation team. He is superbly qualified to be our expert knowledge base in building world-class resiliency programs for the men and woman suffering from the physical and invisible wounds of war at the planned Invictus Centers for TBI & Psychological Health in Orting, WA.

Many people do not understand that veterans are not eligible for the more generously funded DOD satellite military facilities. To access those Centers such as the Intrepid Spirit Centers you must be on active duty. Veterans are left with decidedly more modest centers. Our dream is to build regional centers that are fed by our regional Welcome Home Networks that emulate the Lakeshore Foundation in Alabama.

Many people often ask me, “Peter, isn’t that where our taxpayer dollars are supposed to be going in the funding of the VA”. The answer is yes and no. Inarguable that is one of many of their mandates. However, the System is overwhelmed, outdated and hopelessly behind the curve in helping our military personnel and veterans cope with what they have experienced in the crucible of war. The private sector has a vital role to play in alleviating some of the short-fall in TBI and psychological health services.

I believe one of my chief roles is to show private sector donors how they can assist in this short-fall in the most cost-efficient manner while simultaneously generating tremendous goodwill for its brand in the community in which these Centers will be placed. The below quote gives an accurate description on the financial cost of ten years of war in the Middle East let alone the human cost of waging it over those years.

Costs won’t peak soon

The true cost of war can’t be known for years and decades after the last bullet has been fired. A disability tied to military service might take years to emerge, and might steadily worsen after it does. Bilmes, the Harvard professor who co-wrote “The Three Trillion Dollar War” with Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, said the peak for paying out claims from World War II didn’t come until the 1980s. The peak for the Vietnam War, which ended nearly four decades ago, hasn’t yet been reached. “We expect to see the same kind of lag this time around,” Bilmes said

One of our generation of warriors proudest achievement was to have the Nation understand, albeit belatedly, that you don’t blame the warrior for an outcome that was politically dictated by the hapless policies of politicians. As von Clausewitz famously said, ” war is the continuation of politics by other means”. My passion for the last nine years has been to “pay it forward” to benefit this Nation’s latest generation of warriors in providing them provider portals and planning world-class Centers as an actual physical demonstration of “Welcome Home from a Grateful Nation”.

I won’t stop until I have realized the dream of the Invictus Centers for TBI & Psychological Health.

Coach Hoddle will be responsible for the R&D of all physical activity programs that fulfill the mission of the Invictus Foundation

Coach Hoddle will be responsible for development, implementation and management of the programs of physical activity that fulfill the mission and vision of the Invictus Foundation. This responsibility will span the continuum of programming in fitness, aquatics, recreation and athletics. Coach Hoddle’s primary responsibility will be developing world class programs in the aforementioned areas for injured active duty military personnel and veterans sponsored through and by the Invictus Foundation.

Peter J. Whalen, CEO of the Invictus Foundation, states, “In the years ahead, Coach Hoddle will closely consult with me in preparation for the groundbreaking on our first TBI (traumatic brain injury) & Psychological Health Center. We anticipate the new Western Regional Center will be located in Orting, Washington. “Bryan will provide the expertise and knowledge base to help me bring the physical recovery and fitness aspects of this project to life,” Whalen said.

Coach Hoddle has worked extensively with injured soldiers helping amputees, traumatic brain injuries, blind and wheelchair soldiers. He has been honored by the Washington State House of Representatives with HR 4675 for his work teaching, coaching, working with athletes with disabilities and Soldiers/Veterans as well as having been awarded a 2014 USA Track and Field Presidential Award.

In August of 2002, he was named Program Director for the USA Paralympics Track and Field Performance Coaching Staff. In the summer of 2000, he served as Assistant Manager for the World Junior Track and Field Team. He was selected Head Coach for the 2004 USA Paralympics Track and Field Team held in Athens, Greece.

“I was so pleased when Peter asked me to assume the role of the Chief Program Officer for the Invictus Foundation,” states Coach Hoddle. “He and I have had a long-term collaboration around his dream of improving access and service levels for behavioral health services to uniformed services personnel, veterans and their families as well as the physical recovery and fitness aspects of their “new normal” that stretch back to his founding of the Invictus Foundation nine years ago. I have always believed that he had the leadership skills, competency, credibility and character to one day bring his vision to life.”

Conclusion

One of my driving believes has always been a plan without execution is just a hallucination. We have accomplished a great deal in nine years with much left to achieve. We have proven to our supporters that we are in it for the long haul and are executing our strategic and tactical game plan with intelligence, patience and an eye toward the long game.
The joy is in the journey not how quickly you get there.

SEATTLE, Jan. 9, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Invictus Foundation™, a national nonprofit organization providing individual and family behavioral health counseling services with licensed behavioral health practitioners across the U.S to uniformed service members, veterans and their families, announces the appointment of Ms. Skye McGinn as its Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Ms. McGinn is the Founder & CEO of All Pro Webworks. Previously Skye served as the Invictus Foundation’s senior consultant for information systems and services. Her career can be viewed by visiting www.allprowebworks.com

“This is another major milestone in the growth and maturation of the Invictus Foundation,” states Peter J. Whalen, the Founder and CEO of the Invictus Foundation. “As CTO, Ms. McGinn will lead the Foundation’s oversight of all technology operations and infrastructure. Skye’s extensive knowledge of technology operations and her strong leadership skills will further accelerate our focus on growth and product innovation in our continuing efforts to expand access and increase behavioral health services to our active duty military, veterans and their families.”

“I’m confident that her expanded leadership role as Chief Technology Officer will only increase our pace of execution in our mission to complete eight regional provider networks spanning the Country that are tied together through a strong technology backbone. Since the founding of the Invictus Foundation in 2010 we have completed six of the eight regional Welcome Home Networks with two more regional networks remaining to be completed by the end of 2020. We’re on track to execute the capstone phase of our vision and mission by beginning to look for the capital construction funding for our first Invictus Foundation Center for Traumatic Brain Injury and Psychological Health beginning in 2020.”

Ms. McGinn commented, “I’m excited to support the Invictus Foundation’s continued focus in leveraging technology to serve our active duty military, veterans and their families in new and better ways. I’m honored to work with a creative and talented management team to drive a new era of innovation, user experience, and systems architecture to expand access and increase behavioral health services to our active duty military, veterans and their families.”

About the Invictus Foundation

Invictus Foundation™ is a national nonprofit organization providing individual and family behavioral health counseling services regardless of their ability to pay to active duty military service members, veterans and their families. Invictus Foundation partners with behavioral health providers across the U.S. to provide improved access and increased behavioral health services to uniformed personnel, veterans and their families www.invictusfoundation.org.

Media Contact:
Peter J Whalen
207393@email4pr.com
425-228-0419

The Invictus Foundation is Proud to Announce Dr. Bridget Cantrell as its Chief Clinical Officer

The Appointment Reflects the Steady Growth and Maturation of the Invictus Foundation

SEATTLE, Aug. 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Invictus Foundation™, a national nonprofit organization providing individual and family behavioral health counseling services with licensed behavioral health practitioners to uniformed service members, veterans and their families, announces the appointment of Dr. Bridget C. Cantrell as its Chief Clinical Officer.

“This is a major milestone in the growth and maturation of our Organization,” states Peter J. Whalen, the Founder and CEO of the Invictus Foundation. “Dr. Cantrell has superb clinical credentials, is an author of six books on behavioral health issues within the military and veteran communities and is a noted researcher and lecturer, the sponsor of numerous military/veterans workshops as well as being a consultant to the U.S. military for behavioral health issues affecting our men and women in uniform.” Her career may be viewed by going to
www.bridgetcantrell.com.

“Dr. Cantrell has tremendous credibility with our military and veterans. She has spent a lifetime working with them. She will be leading the clinical execution of our efforts to expand community outreach for behavioral health services to our military, veterans and their families that are struggling to create a ‘new normal’ in their lives after experiencing the crucible of war,” states Mr. Whalen.

“I was so pleased when Peter approached me and asked me to take the helm of the clinical leadership for the Invictus Foundation,” states Dr. Cantrell. “He and I have had a long-term collaboration around his dream of improving access and service levels to uniformed services personnel, veterans and their families that stretch back to his founding of the Invictus Foundation eight years ago. I have always believed that he had the leadership skills, competency, credibility and character to one day have this request made of me by him.”

“I’m excited to be involved with the Invictus Foundation in the continued development of its Welcome Home Networks (WHN) as well as the total quality management and continuous quality improvement of them. I will also be working on strengthening our telemedicine platform focused on expanding behavioral health services to uniformed services personnel, veterans and their families through this portal, developing an internet call-in radio show, creating podcasts and video cloud offerings as well as expanding seminar and conferences capabilities through the Invictus Foundation. The long term goal remains to build out eight regional TBI and Psychological Health Centers across the Country to which our regional Welcome Home Networks will be able to make referrals,” states Dr. Cantrell.