Supporting the Special Forces Regiment isn’t just a job, it’s a lifestyle. For over 15 years Green Beret Foundation has placed empowering Green Berets of every generation at the forefront. Creating opportunities from the unique needs of our Special Operators is the mission.
Charlie Iacono is the President and CEO of Green Beret Foundation; a role to which he brought seemingly endless new opportunities for our Green Berets. From SOF Week 2025 in Tampa, FL, Fran Racioppi sat down with Charlie to discuss his priorities for the year, how the organization has grown over 44% and what it means to lead in the tasks you excel at.
At the top of Charlie’s list is preparing for victory in this year’s 2nd Annual Stars and Stripes Classic; the newest Labor Day tradition pitting America’s Green Berets against their Navy SEAL rivals on the lacrosse field. Hosted by the PLL, this year’s game is set to be even more physical, faster and sharper as the teams take the field in Philadelphia.
Charlie and I also discussed how Task Force Tatonka is balancing mental, physical and spiritual health, why inducting President John F. Kennedy was a pivotal moment in Special Forces history, the growth of the Warrior Sportsmen program and new partnerships that are lighting the course for the remainder of the year.
This episode is about giving back, creating opportunities for Green Berets to thrive, and laying a good stick on your rivals.
Our SOF Week 2025 Series is made possible in part by Accrete.ai; solving business’s most complex challenges today through the technology of tomorrow.
The Jedburgh Podcast is brought to you by University of Health & Performance, providing our Veterans world-class education and training as fitness and nutrition entrepreneurs.
Follow the Jedburgh Podcast and the Green Beret Foundation on social media. Listen on your favorite podcast platform, read on our website, and watch the full video version on YouTube as we show why America must continue to lead from the front, no matter the challenge.
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Supporting the Special Forces Regiment isn’t just a job. It’s a lifestyle. For over fifteen years, Green Beret Foundation has placed empowering Green Berets of every generation at the forefront. Creating opportunities from the unique needs of our special operators is the mission. Charlie Iacono is the President and CEO of Green Beret Foundation, a role to which he has brought seemingly endless new opportunities for our Green Berets.
From SOF Week 2025 in Tampa, Florida, I sat down with Charlie to discuss the priorities for the year, how the organization has grown by over 44%, and what it needs to lead in the task that you excel at. At the top of Charlie’s list, he is preparing for victory in this year’s second annual Stars & Stripes Classic, the newest Labor Day tradition pitting America’s Green Berets against their Navy SEAL rivals on the lacrosse field. Hosted by the Premier Lacrosse League, this year’s game is set to be even more physical, faster, and sharper as the teams take the field in Philadelphia.
Charlie and I also discussed how Task Force Tatanka is balancing mental, physical, and spiritual health, why inducting President John F. Kennedy as a distinguished member of the regiment was a pivotal moment in Special Forces history, the growth of the Warrior Sportsman Program, and new partnerships that are lighting the course for the remainder of the year.
This episode is about giving back, creating opportunities for Green Berets to thrive, and laying a good stick on your rivals. The Jedburgh Podcast is brought to you by the University of Health & Performance, providing our veterans with world-class education and training as fitness and nutrition entrepreneurs. Follow the Jedburgh Podcast and the Green Beret Foundation on social media. Tune in on your favorite platform, read on our website, and watch the full video version on YouTube as we show you why America must continue to lead from the front, no matter the challenge.
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Charlie, welcome to The Jedburgh Podcast from SOF Week.
I love it.
We’re under the escalators.
When I say we go where the story is, I don’t think you can get any closer to it. We’re on the Benevolent Organization runway on the first floor. There’s a lot of good activity and a lot of great organizations. It’s great to be here at the Jedburgh Media Channel and the show. There’s exciting stuff happening.
All I know is that we took it by force, but then Stu Bradin showed up. As the Head of the global SOF Foundation, he sat down in that chair. We did a whole interview for about an hour, and he said, “You’re good to go.” Anyone else who comes over here can back off. We’re in it.
It always helps when you know the guy who’s responsible for the entire conference, let alone interviewing him. Stu is great. We have an incredible partnership between our two organizations. We’re fortunate to be here each year, supporting them and them supporting us. There is a dynamic group of individuals who pulled this together. This is no small feat. There are a lot of moving parts to this conference, and each year, it somehow gets better. Hats off to the entire team.
They’re saying they had over 23,000 projected attendees over the course of the three days, and then they’ve got over 800 vendors in there. We talk about capability. The job of the Green Beret Foundation is to support the people. We live that first SOF truth that people are more important than hardware. Everything we talk about all day long within the foundation comes back to the people. We’re talking about a lot of hardware here. It’s a lot of hardware. It has to get out into the hands of people. They’ve got a lot of work to do when we look at the national security priorities over the next couple of years.
The Secretary of Defense was here. You had a chance to sit in on one of the discussions with him. We talked about where we are going as SOF and what we need to be prepared for. The reality of the situation is that whatever our brothers do out there within the ranks, the foundation still exists to support them and their families, not only this generation, but all generations. It’s been a busy year. It’s
I don’t even think we’re halfway through it. To your point, the unconventional war fighter is blending with the conventional threats to democracy and our freedoms as Americans. You see the hardware that’s here and the companies that want to support our fight for freedom and the defense of our freedoms. It’s inspiring. You see where the two come together, where hardware meets the greatest asset, which is the people. As all of the leadership says all the time, the people are the greatest asset.
Our freedoms are in very capable hands and incredible leadership with the Secretary of Defense. We are very privileged to live in this country. I feel incredibly privileged to lead this organization. When this all comes together, it is magnificent. You see drones that are the size of what looks like a mosquito to ordinance that looks like the size of a small SUV. It makes you feel good as an American to know that such genius work, innovation, and dedication is going into our way of life as Americans.
The last time we sat down, we were in the home of greatness at Gillette Stadium. We were in the field house. We were getting ready for the Stars & Stripes Classic. It’s a great series. It was a great event that came out of that. Unfortunately, we may have lost the game. I think we won the fight. I can tell you that. That was a brutal game.
As Andy Towers told us in our interview with him, it looked like a game out of the 1980s with the amount of hitting that was going on, a lot less on the skill side. Those guys went out there, and they crushed it on both sides. Special thanks to the Navy SEAL Foundation, who’s sitting over here behind us as well. We’re getting ready for the second annual Stars & Stripes Classic coming up here in a couple of months. Talk for a second about the success of the first game, working with the PLL, and getting ready for year number two.
You can’t win them all. I tell my two boys, who are fairly accomplished young lacrosse players, “You’re going to come up against games that sometimes you don’t win, no matter how much of an effort you put out there on the field.” In the post-game press conference, a miracle won that day. Robin King and I were talking about year two and how incredible it was that both the community experienced something special that day, but the spouses and the children who got to see their dads put on uniforms and go to work. Albeit in a different way, they go to work against some of their best teammates on both sides of the field.
I can tell you in year two, the interest level of playing on this team is through the roof. We’re probably going to have to do a talent evaluation slash tryout down at Fort Bragg. The regiment wants to win, and the foundation wants to win. We also recognize that, win or lose, this game means so much more to our two collective communities and the PLL. They’ve been incredible partners.
There is a new city this 2025, which is Philadelphia. I don’t have to go into it much. It’s a storied city, both from a Military perspective and a sports perspective. I can’t think of a grittier city outside of Boston that loves to put teams on a field and watch them compete. Philadelphia is going to be a great host city for us this 2025.
In addition to that, the PLL’s got some exciting things cooking, as do our two foundations. The overwhelming support for the game of lacrosse is growing. All of our kids have either been a part of it or are playing it. The reality of it is, it’s such a great way to bridge that civilian Military gap that exists and to talk about the stories of not only the heritage of the game, but the beginnings of the game played by the first unconventional war fighters, the Indigenous tribes of North America, to how it is a healing game for the Indigenous tribes. A lot of healing took place on that day as well.
We see this as such a great way to educate the global community, but more so bringing it back home a little bit to the community here in the United States that there are men that choose a career in the Naval special warfare, or a career in the regiment of the United States Army Special Forces that are incredible athletes before they are incredible war fighters. That was demonstrated in year 1, and we’re going to see it again in year 2. It’s going to be a great game.
It’s true. I always credit my ability to get through Ranger School, to go to assessment and selection, to be a Green Beret, and to get through the Q Course are all things that would not have happened had I not been a collegiate Division I athlete. I, hands down, know that. I was on the men’s rowing team at Boston University. Every time I was walking all night with a rucksack on my back, I thought about being on the Charles when it was 35 and raining. My hands were frozen. There’s ice on the oar, and it’s dark out.
Having to bring my body to a complete lactic acid seizure, I always thought, “It doesn’t suck as much as that did.” That’s what would get me through. It’s like, “You could take another step. You could keep going. This isn’t that bad.” Like in rowing, I’d have to find a way to get through one piece at a time. I had to find a way to get through one day at a time and all those things. You learn so much as a collegiate athlete that transitions and helps you frame your mindset when you go into special operations and any sort of leadership. Leadership’s not supposed to be easy. It’s supposed to be hard.
To your point, I’ve watched that game film probably 150 times. I’ve broken that film down. That game came down to a couple of missed slides. It came down to a lot of dropped passes on both sides, honestly. I’ve broken that film down, and I was saying to Coach Alberici and Coach Benson, “We’re going to study the film with the new team. We’re going to show where our weaknesses are, where we can fill those gaps, where we can improve, and where we can become a better unit and operate as a better unit.”
The most exciting thing about sports is that we also see this as a way to help in the recruiting space. I don’t like to say that there’s a recruiting crisis because that gives ammo to our enemies to say, “They can’t fill the ranks that they need to fill.” I don’t think it’s that. What we are looking for as a benevolent organization is to help the Special Forces Regiment and the NSW community recruit the best athletes. For the kid that’s sitting in the stands, a junior in high school maybe, who is a great leader that loves this country, loves the game of lacrosse, and sees those two teams play on Labor Day Weekend 2025, that might inspire that young man or young woman to say, “I am going to serve my country. If we can win one recruit at a time, we’ll be fine.”
It’s an all-hands effort to get everybody out there and get them involved. We were at the Pentagon for another conversation with Sergeant Major of the Army, Mike Weimer, and Sergeant Major Chris Mullinax, who works in the G-3/5/7 Operation Cell and was the guy responsible and directed by the Chief of Staff of the Army to redo the PT test, which is called the Army Fitness Test.
I posed that question to the Sergeant Major of the Army. I said, “The last time we sat down, everybody was saying there’s a recruiting crisis. Where are we today?” He’s got a great answer. He was talking about, “We’re answering the call, but our numbers still have to be higher. We still have to get everybody to understand that there’s a lot more work to do.” As an organization or as Green Beret Foundation, as we’re out there advocating on behalf of the regiment and we’re telling the stories of our regimental leaders in the broader national security story, this has to inspire confidence in the next generation to get out there, do the hard thing, and get after it.
Let’s talk about some 2025 strategies, some things that are coming into the organization, and some focus that we have outside of the Stars & Stripes Classic, which is coming up in a couple of months. We did get finished with the distinguished member of the regiment event down at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where it was identified.
All of us, every single Green Beret, are guilty since the inception of assuming that President John F. Kennedy had been inducted into the regiment. It was identified in the last several months that it hadn’t happened. We were all taking it for granted. The decision was made right away to, “We got to do this immediately.” The call came into the foundation, asking us if we could partner to make this happen.
What an honor it was to be in that room that night. I know that you were there with us. The history that we were capturing there didn’t hit me until about halfway through the dinner when I looked to the right of me, and President Kennedy’s grandson was sitting there at my table, as well as General Yarborough’s grandson. These were 2 grandsons of 2 great Americans bringing honor to their families, and the fact that we were inducting John F. Kennedy, President Kennedy, into the regiment as an honorary member or distinguished member. We also paid homage to the fact that General Yarborough had so much to do with it.
It was a privilege for the foundation and a complete honor. I had an incredible team of people that helped pull that event together, both on the side of SWC with General Slider, USASOC with General Braga, and the first SFC with General Ferguson. There was a dynamic team of individuals and professionals. Our team on our side of the GVF, we had Olivia, Jenna, you, and so many others who worked in the trenches to figure out how we could bring an incredible level of respect and dignity to this individual who gave so much, ultimately his life, for his country.
One of my favorite parts, and I probably have forever created an individual who probably never wants to see me again at the Pinehurst Resort, was the executive chef who paid so close attention to the details. You have to be detail-oriented. You have to look over everything. You have to make sure that nothing is missed. From the curation of the menu that was recipes from former state dinners to the placement of his favorite desserts during the dinner and then post-dinner at the cocktail reception to the rocking chairs that were around the fire pits, everything in that evening that we experienced had a connection to the 35th President of the United States of America.
We paid such an enormous amount of respect and honor to him. The culmination of the evening resonated at the end when I was talking with a few members of the regimen, and they said, “We don’t know if there will ever be another one like this.” That’s when it hit. We probably won’t see something of that nature or that level of somebody who’s played such a pivotal role in the creation of SF and the Green Beret becoming a mark of honor and distinction.
In the Green Beret Foundation, somebody asked me, “How do you feel?” I am very humbled that we were entrusted with this incredible responsibility. To the Kennedy family and to the Kennedy Museum, they were wonderful partners. We had Michael Yarborough. We had the historian at the Pentagon, who is somebody that’s going to have to be on the show at some point. He has a wealth of knowledge. Incredible Americans. It was an honor to be there with them in that room that evening.
It was very interesting to hear the perspectives of the grandchildren and hear about the impact that those leaders, which is truly what they are, have inspired, not only all of us and generations to come, but them as family members. When we look forward, we will continue to be inspired by leaders like Yarborough and Kennedy. They will always impact the regiment. We’ll continue to honor them. It’s great that we’ve got this solidified, and this is in place,
To your point with the inspiration, Jack, President Kennedy’s grandson, and I were talking. He had, earlier in that day, taken a tour at SWC and had seen the impact at Bragg. He said, “What an honor. What a privilege to see everything and the impact that my grandfather has had.” In the few minutes that we had right before the event, we talked about service.
I shared with him, “Your grandfather had such a profound impact on so many generations of Americans with the call to service.” Whether it be the Military, whether it be the Peace Corps, or whether it be becoming an educator, it didn’t matter. It’s that line that has stuck with us for so long that truly means a great deal.
As I like to characterize, it defines the American person, people, and the community that we live in here in this country, looking to do good for others and not expecting anything in return. The fact that we’re on this row with tons of different nonprofit organizations, all doing their part, small, big, or brand new to this space. I’ve been here for fifteen years at the Green Beret Foundation. That call to service is still being answered. That’s what’s so exciting and, quite frankly, makes America, in my opinion, such a hopeful nation still.
We’re looking at bringing in some new programs. Primarily, there’s been a big push within the foundation under your leadership. You put a lot of focus on mental and emotional well-being and spiritual well-being. We talk so much about physical well-being. I did a year of this show about physical well-being. Mental and spiritual well-being are the other sides of that triangle or that trifecta that affect a special operator as they transition out.
We don’t do much for spiritual, emotional, and mental well-being when we’re in service because we’re running. When we get out, we’re facing transition, and we start to take a step back. Those things start to come more to the forefront. Unfortunately, the physical side starts to go down when we get out, but we have to keep that up at the top of the list, too. The foundation is spending a lot of time putting the framework together for Task Force Tatanka. What’s Task Force Tatanka, and why is it becoming an important part of the programming of Green Beret Foundation?
The initiative of Task Force Tatanka was created by way of a conversation that Travis Wilson, our Director of Mission and Community Relations here at the foundation, and I were having about how we could do more for the greater construct of our multi-generational community that we serve. For those who are reading that don’t know the origin of the word Tatanka, it is Buffalo in Lakota. What makes the significant impact of the task force is that the buffalo is the only animal in the animal kingdom that heads into the storm and doesn’t run away from it.
We see the challenges that exist here in the present day for the SOF community for those who are actively serving and those who have been formerly served. If you run from the issues, whether it be mind, body, or spirit, they’re eventually going to catch up with you. You can never outrun the storm. At some point, the storm breaks, and it’s going to be on top of you. We want to avoid that. By addressing issues head-on, whether it’s mind, body, or spirit in partnership or in unison with the individual, the family member, or the child, even, we think we can create a healthier, more vibrant community.
That ethos will then be carried forward in a greater way to force multiply that mindset to then enable other people to realize, “I have an issue that I’m dealing with. I need support. I’ve got back issues. I’ve got challenges that could be supported through stem cell initiatives for TBI. I’m going to talk to the Green Beret Foundation.” It’s a premise. It’s a concept to generate that conversation. Whatever the problem is, we’ll address it head-on with you. We’ll see you through that storm and your family, and we’ll come through that storm on the other side better, stronger, healthier, and more vibrant than we were beforehand.
What you said is important to reiterate. When you talk about the programmatic work of the foundation, a lot of people come to me in transition, and they say, “I’m looking for someone to partner with who can help me.” I’ll say, “Why don’t you call up the Green Beret Foundation?” They’ll say, “What do they do?” I say, “What do you need?”
They’ll ask again, “What services do they have? What do they do?” I’ll say, “What do you need? Tell us what you need. Call us up. Let’s have a conversation. Let’s talk about where you are. Let’s talk about where you want to be. Let’s talk about the things that are going to help you, whether that be physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, or whatever it is. We’re then going to go out, and we’re going to create the solution for you.” That’s been an important part of what’s been put into place here.
I look at needs also as opportunities. If we start to hear from people, “I have these challenges service-connected,” we’re seeing it. We are very much a data-driven organization. We’re looking at that data on a regular basis. If there’s an unaddressed need in the community, we’ll address it. If there’s an organization that’s out there that’s already addressing it, my philosophy as the leader of this organization is that we are not going to build to serve unless it’s unmet.
If there’s an organization out there that’s doing it and doing it well, and we have confidence in that foundation or that nonprofit, we will refer that to Green Beret. We will still walk with them through that journey to ensure that they’re getting the support that they need. I see needs as opportunities as well. What’s so important for the readers who have served and their spouses or their children that may be reading is that the foundation also wants to have a conversation with you.
If you need to talk to figure out what the next steps could be, let’s have that conversation. We’ve got a great programs and services team. We’ve got a great VSO team. We’re going to pick up the phone. Ultimately, at the end of the day, as I said on my first day on the job, my goal for this foundation is to be the preeminent leader in the things that we can do exceptionally well. Like Green Berets are trained to do a very specific function in the greater complex of the Army, we, too, as a foundation, do things very well. It is a succinct, efficient, and effective manner. We’re only building on that.
We’ve had 44% year-over-year growth from ‘23 to ‘24. That’s because of people being able to tune in to this show. It’s because our donor base is recognizing it. It’s because of so many of these companies in this global conference wanting to partner with us. The individual death sends us $10, and that gift matters, too. We’re going to continue to grow. We’re going to continue to introduce things when we need to. We’ll partner or band together with other organizations to ensure that there’s no need or opportunity that goes unaddressed.
When Stu was here, we talked about the importance of the Special Forces and the Green Beret mindset of partnership. We defined the combined aspect. We talked about the term combined. We were talking about partnering with our allies and partnering with other nations, because that’s where you have the force multiplier.
There are a lot of organizations out there that will tell you, “We do one thing. If we don’t do it, you have to go find someone else.” What you’re pushing the organization to do is say, “Here’s what we’re good at. Here’s what we don’t do or we’re not good at, but we are going to do the legwork for you. We’re going to facilitate bringing another organization in to get you the services we need. We’re going to take care of that relationship for you.”
That becomes the force multiplier because it’s not just about, “Here’s what Green Beret Foundation does and doesn’t do.” It’s, “Here’s what we can do for you based on your needs. We’re going to leverage our network across everyone who’s sitting down this row and those who aren’t even here. We’re going to go out, get those resources, and bring them in.” That provides a solution.
It’s a solution, and it’s a sustainable solution. My biggest fear as the president and CEO of the Green Beret Foundation is that when the next conflict kicks off, are the organizations able to sustain a multi-front mission delivery model? What I mean by that is, are you able to support the active duty space, those that are bringing the fight to the enemy of the United States of America, those that served in the GWOT era that have their specialized support systems and needs that we support, and all those that came before them?
If you have to turn off the faucet to your other community members to address one mission or one front, I don’t see that as a sustainable solution. You’re not doing anything to move the needle forward or the compass to true North. At some point, it’s going to break. It’s not sustainable. We have a hashtag that we use all the time. It’s #GBFStrongerTogether. We don’t claim to be the perfect solution every single time, but we can find the perfect solution. We’ll go out and find the perfect solution for that person in need.
If you have to turn off the faucet to your other community members to just address another mission, that is not a sustainable solution.
We’ve seen the solidification of the Warrior Sportsmen Program. I got to thank you for the 50 pounds of fish that are still sitting in the freezer in my basement. I had to go buy a freezer when I got back.
I don’t doubt.
For context, we went to Alaska in 2024. We went to Fish the Nush up there at the Salmon Lodge. It’s called the Salmon Lodge, but multiple planes. We landed out there on a float plane and ended up spending five solid days with a great group of folks, not only talking about getting out there and fishing for salmon, but reconnecting with a number of guys I didn’t know. Outside of Travis, I didn’t know any of those guys who were there. They’ve all become friends. We knew of each other but didn’t know each other that well.
At the end of the five days, it was a great group that had come together for a real strong sense of purpose. The Warrior Sportsmen Program has solidified. We’ve got Fish the Nush coming up. Talk for a minute about the importance of Warrior Sportsmen, what we’re trying to do with the program, and what we can look forward to in this year’s fishing trip up to Alaska.
The Fish the Nush experience, having not experienced it, but seeing the videos, if you enjoy fishing, it is probably the mecca of fishing for salmon, I would imagine. The Warrior Sportsmen Program is so critically important. That was a gap that we saw we found through the introduction of one of our board members because he sat on the Warrior Sportsmen Program. They were doing great work, 100% volunteer-run, but they wanted to scale. They said, “We don’t want to hire people.” That was a full merger. That nonprofit merged into the GBF programs. We have grown that and scaled it in a significant way.
Whether you’re on a float plane to Alaska, doing a fishing trip, like we’re about to announce excursion, for stripers up in New England over the course of the summer in a couple of trips to New England, or are headed down to Cabo through our Alpha Elite Outdoors Program that also falls under the umbrella of the Warrior Sportsmen, which is an adrenaline-type sport that is deep sea fishing for tuna, we have an opportunity for our community members and also their kids. That’s an important piece of this. Their kids also attend with their dads to experience those moments of reconnection, grounding, and understanding how beautiful this country is and how much it has to offer to you in the outdoors.
A big problem that we have that is beginning to become more and more addressed with outdoor excursions and experiences is that we don’t get outside enough. We’re behind a desk. We’re looking at a tablet. We’re glued to our phones. There are times when, at the end of the day, I want to throw my phone in the garbage because I’ve been on it for so long, sending emails and being on calls. I’m on a computer all day.
If that’s a Friday and I go fishing with my boys on Saturday and Sunday up in Maine, everything’s reset. It grounds you. The Warrior Sportsmen Program is that. It is our effort to provide opportunities for reconnection and opportunities to get out to Mother Nature, and, quite frankly, experience everything this country has to offer from an outdoors adventure perspective.
There are a few other things that are coming down the pipeline with Warrior Sportsmen. We’ve got a safari in Africa, the trip to Cabo that the team is leading, a couple of elk hunts, and a couple of deer hunts. We’ve got some stuff that’s going to be happening in Montana later on. It’s a culmination of a lot of different things. This is the beginning for Warrior Sportsmen. Three or five years from now, this could be one of our biggest impact programs.
These are the things that our community likes to do. We had Roger Carstens. Roger is a Green Beret. He retired as a lieutenant colonel. He was a West Point grad. He served in the Ranger Battalion and served in the Special Forces Regiment. He then went on to be what we call the SPEHA, the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, for the last couple of years.
That’s not an easy job.
It’s not an easy job, but he brought home 68 wrongfully detained or hostage Americans overseas during his five years. He was tremendously successful in that role. We had a good conversation about transition for SF guys and the fact that SF guys go through this career where they’re on teams, they’re surrounded by others, and they’re constantly in the presence of other people, and then they retire, get out, and go, “I’m living in the woods by myself. I’m going to hunt and fish.” They become a recluse. They develop mental health challenges. We hear stories where they drank themselves to death or they took their own life. It’s sad.
That’s heartbreaking.
We can’t do that. We can’t disengage from our community at the end of our service, disappear, and be gone. We need that community. What the Warrior Sportsmen Program is doing and the value that it’s bringing is it’s allowing folks to get out there and rebuild that community. For those like me who moved to the city and didn’t move to the woods to hunt and fish, it allowed me to disengage from city life and get on with the chaos of the twenty-hour days, running multiple businesses and being involved in everything.
We had a bass fisherman. He was an SF guy who got out and is now a professional bass fisherman. To be able to do something he loved with guys he loved. His story was amazing at the end of the five days. He said, “I didn’t know I needed this, and I fish every day professionally.” That’s the power that that program is going to bring.
Humanity, since the beginning of time, has always needed other humans. That is something that I think we lose sight of often. We think that we can do it all by ourselves. I can appreciate when guys want to get away and they want to get off the grid. Don’t get me wrong. There are times that I feel the same way. You want to disconnect.
The reality of it is, we are better together. We are a better species. We are better citizens. We are better patriots. The Warrior Sportsmen Program gets back to the roots, in my opinion, of what made this country so great early on. The outdoors, hunting, and fishing are not easy. I tell my boys all the time, “It’s called fishing, because you have to try to catch the fish. If you got the fish all the time, it’d be called catching.” It’s the chase.
I always bring it back that there are people still in this country who depend on fishing or hunting to put food on their table. It’s the will. It’s the grit. More importantly, it’s the camaraderie, to your point, that’s built in those quiet moments. Some of the videos that I watched are of two dudes sitting there, not talking, but they were there together. That’s the important thing.
God forbid they find themselves in that situation, and they’re thinking the worst thoughts that they could be thinking. You hope for a moment, a nanosecond, that they remember that time that they were fishing with their brothers or they were fishing with their kids, and that prevents them from taking that next step. Whether it’s the Warrior Sportsmen Program, the Alpha Elite Outdoor excursions, Andy’s Fund, or Task Force Tatanka, which oversees all of it, we want to be there. We will pick up that phone, whether it’s programmatically or to help you find the help that you need.
In the Alaska bush, there were many times when it may be called fishing, but all you have to do is drop that line in the water, and something’s biting on it.
That’s why it’s the mecca of fishing for salmon.
As a charitable organization, we’re funded by others. We have a duty to those we serve in the Special Forces community, but our ability to serve comes back to creating strategic partnerships with organizations that value our mission, see our mission, and want to become part of it. We’ve got some big announcements this 2025, coming in terms of corporate partnerships that we’re going to be excited about and that are going to allow us to execute so many of those programs. Can you talk for a second about the new partners that we have in 2025 and how that’s going to move the needle for the foundation?
Sure, absolutely. We are blessed with a number of partners, but as I always say to anybody I talk to, we can never have too many. We need the support of the American people and industry to ensure that our mission can be continuously fueled. There are a few to highlight in some detail that we’ll be releasing soon.
We have a new partnership with Rigid Industries. They’re going to be in the Warrior Sportsmen Program. Rigid Industries is the leading LED light bar and light outfitter for outdoor vehicles and trucks here in America. I have their products. They’re phenomenal. It gives you great ground clearance and great spotlights. For some of these night hunts that we’re going to be launching in Texas, there’s also going to be a discount that is associated with that for the GBF community if people want to buy those for their own vehicles, which is great. They’re committed to supporting the foundation.
Another great company that we’re working with is Stirling Timepieces. It’s so synonymous with our media channel, but we’re going to be announcing a Jedburgh Edition Stirling Timepieces Watch. Stirling Timepieces is a British watch company with a massive following, coincidentally in the United States, Great Britain, and Canada. It makes so much sense for that first partnership watch to be a Jedburgh Edition Watch. Those proceeds will also benefit the Green Beret Foundation.
We have existing partnerships that are continuing to grow, like CrypTech and others, that are so committed to the mission. They not only value the incredible assets, which are the people here who make this mission a reality each day, like yourself and your team, as well as the GBF team, who are out here trying to raise money as we speak, but they also have a profound appreciation of the community that we serve. How do they want to make us better? How can they help us become better?
There are a lot of exciting things coming down the pipeline, some I wish I could talk about a little bit more in greater detail, but we’ll have to have another conversation about that. Each year that I’ve been here, which is a little over two years, I’m optimistic that it can’t get better than this year. We’re doing great things. Our scholarship programs are booming. We have the Special Forces Scholarship Fund, the Bennie Adkins Scholarship Fund, and the Athena Scholarship Fund.
We closed an incredible gift with an incredible former Green Beret who is committed to sending a Green Beret to Stanford Law School free of charge. That’s life-changing, not just for the regiment in our community, but it’s life-changing for generations of that particular family when that individual is selected for that scholarship. We are excited and optimistic.
We also invite the American people to continue to support us. Talk to your friends and your family about the Green Beret Foundation. Tell them the stories that you hear about on the Jeburgh Media Channel. That would not be possible without the support of our viewership. It’s not much different from PBS. Our topics are often a little bit different. PBS puts out a great product, but it’s fueled by its listenership and viewership. We’re blessed to partner and have you all as an official program because that opens up new revenue streams for us as well. We’re constantly looking to spread awareness and create more buzz about the foundation and the work we’re doing.
Maybe we have to put that as a note at the end of the episode that says, “The Jedburgh Media Channel is brought to you in part by your donation, your generosity of the American public.”
Let’s do it.
That’s what we got to do. There is one other thing that we do want to highlight. Travis Wilson has been working diligently for this. We’ve seen him all over social media talking about it. I’ve heard him in five conversations talking about it. It is the Stem Cell Institute of California and the work that stem cells are doing in the treatment of TBIs. They’re the only FDA research facility that has the institutional new drug certification, so they’re able to treat people here in the US in line with stem cell research. Talk for a second about the partnership with the Stem Cell Institute of California and what it means in the treatment of TBIs for our Green Berets.
Stem cells can be considered one of the last frontiers. What are the limitations? Are they endless on what stem cells can help with? It’s one of the reasons why we’re excited about this. There is a dual path of continued research that they’re doing to figure out how else stem cells can help support a war fighter, either during or post-service, and then also at the same time, being able to use it because it’s considered a new investigational drug by the FDA. The FDA has given its stamp of approval to say, “You can use this to begin to treat TBIs.”
The TBI space is an evolving space. There is also still a lot for us to learn about how the brain absorbs trauma, impact trauma, emotional trauma, and visual trauma. How can we determine a path forward to help those who served our nation when time matters most? Stem cells are such a promising pathway to recovery and treatment for these individuals.
The institute has been nothing but fantastic so far. In addition to that, Rakel has promised to open up her network of individuals and the people that she’s working with to encourage them to become supporters of the Green Beret Foundation as well. It is that force multiplier mindset again coming to reality, largely in part with Travis and the work that he’s doing with them. He is constantly pushing, “How can we work better and faster together?” It’s an exciting opportunity.
We’ve talked a little bit before about how I live with Type 1 diabetes. Stem cells in the T1D space is an evolving space, too. It’s been very interesting to see how it’s helping chronic illnesses or autoimmune diseases, but then also helping wounds from the battlefield. It’s not surprising. What’s exciting about it is that we see stuff that’s happening here in Florida that it’s going to be more accessible in Florida, and that the desire to see this treatment or this therapy come to reality and become more accessible is open for discussion. We want to be the forefront leader in that discussion for the SOF community.
I told Travis we got to do a whole piece on it.
The science is wild, but it’s exciting. It’s exciting to see it coming together. Stem cells could be the go-to for a lot of different things. If we play a very small piece in that, that’s a huge win.
If we change the life of one person, we did our job. As you look forward to the year, and we’re halfway there, what’s the most exciting thing about 2026 that you’re looking at?
That’s hard. The biggest piece that we have to address, and I know that a lot of people won’t be excited when I say this, but I’ve sat in enough meetings, read enough newspapers, and watched enough news, is that we have to get ready for that next conflict. Don’t get me wrong. The conversations that I’ve been having here, we want peace. We pray for peace, but we also have to prepare for war.
With the benevolent organizations that have a duty and a responsibility to those who are in uniform, willing to lay down their lives for us, we have the responsibility to prepare for that next conflict. That also gives me an opportunity to share the message of how critically important the SOF community, the Special Forces Green Berets, is to the larger complex puzzle that we are facing.
Anytime we get to meet with an industry member outside of the industrial Military complex who doesn’t know a lot about the global state of affairs as it relates to the Military, they are fascinated by how well-trained our community members are. They are fascinated by how nonprofit organizations are ready to stand in the fight with them, albeit in a different way, but are ready to answer that call. We know that it’s not easy to raise money. When they get excited about it, it makes it a little bit easier.
I would say getting ready for that next conflict, but also preparing us and preparing my team, which is ultimately my responsibility, to weather that storm, too. We often think about it like, “We’re the Green Beret Foundation. We can do it. We’ve been answering this call for fifteen-plus years. Aaron Anderson stood it up from a hospital bed in San Antonio.” There’s a lot of truth to that, but we have a new team. A new team is good.
We also need to know how we are going to be able to work together at that moment. Do we buckle under pressure? Do our sister organizations buckle under pressure? We don’t want anybody to buckle under pressure. That’s where I’m promoting and strengthening the concept of stronger togetherness. Come into the fold. Let’s not just create organizations for the sake of creating organizations. Let’s be strategic about it, not tactical.
Ultimately, at the end, that puzzle will be solved because the American people’s resolve to win has always been there since day one. We saw that on the battlefields of Philadelphia and up in Boston. We saw that in World War I and World War II. We’ve seen that in every single conflict this country has been in. There is a desire to win and do good for humanity because we believe that we are that beacon of hope and light for freedom.
All of these organizations play a critical role in keeping the light of freedom as bright as possible. What gives me hope are people like you and other people who are supporting this organization and taking the time to invest their time, talent, energy, and treasure to ensure that the Green Beret Foundation is there to lead the way. There’s a lot of work still to be done, but we love a challenge. It’s such a distinct honor and privilege to be here with you again and with this community, and representing in a very small, but hopefully meaningful way, to ensure that this community is proud of when they think of the Green Beret Foundation.
We’ve got to advance that mission every day. That’s what we talk about on our team. We finished a piece that’s coming up here. The very first thing I did was I said, “Thanks. It looks great,” to our editor, and then I sent the link for the next one and said, “Next episode.”
No days off.
I was like, “You got more time in the day. Get a jump on it. Let’s go.”
No days off. There is that mentality. We can’t take a break. There’s nothing wrong with that. You certainly can take a break. I promote that all the time. If people could see the team that’s behind these cameras, this is a Class A example of what excellence looks like. It’s a factor of the guests that you have on this media channel, the outreach that we get, and the fact that people want to do documentaries with us after watching the Jedburgh Media Channel’s documentary on the Jedburghs and the 80th anniversary of DA. The path and the runway for this channel are just the beginning. We’re going to take it to all new levels in 2025 and beyond.
When you love something so much and you are doing it well even behind the scenes, it is a great example of what
excellence looks like.
I agree with you. I appreciate everything that you’ve done for us and what the organization has done. We’re proud to be a part of it. We feel that when we walk through the halls here. We can’t go that far without getting stopped. We’ve had a constant train of people coming by and saying, “We love the show. We love what you guys are doing.” The booth has been busy. What we care about is the impact that we can drive. Good work.
Thank you. I appreciate it.
Green Beret Foundation
P.O. Box 25138
New York, NY 10087-5138
Note: Please use USPS mail or priority mail. Do not use FedEx.
Call: at: (844) 287-7133
