Why are the SEAL Teams so good? The number one reason is its people. The people that put mission first, teammates above themselves and a work ethic that fights tirelessly to be the best for a greater cause. My first combat mission as a Frogman did not even come close to going as planned. Right out of the gate we were taking enemy fire, our imagery looked like it was from a completely different area and our primary breach point was fouled. But, we knew to anticipate these complexities and we built a system that quickly adapted to the unknowns that we knew would arise. We pivoted to the changing battlefield and quickly found mission success.
The reason the SEAL Future Foundation has become the trusted teammate of the SEAL Community is because of you, the people who support it. It’s because we use the same adaptable systems that we did on the battlefield to tackle the new enemy we call transition. It’s because we partner with each SEAL and tackle his unique journey providing the appropriate tools along the way to find mission success. No two SEALs are the same and we consider each man’s transition to be our mission, knowing that if we fail it could have the same consequences as when we were operating abroad. We have to fight for every mission and will do everything in our power to not fail!
Many of you have heard me say this but it is so true. The hardest thing I have done is not bury friends, or leave my kids for deployments, it wasn’t being in the middle of a fire fight, or receiving a body of a teammate on the back of a plane. No, the hardest thing that I have ever done in my life is transition. It is a difficult thing to comprehend but leaving the Teams, the camaraderie, the sense of purpose, the brotherhood and then trying to find how you fit in this world and doing it by yourself makes you lost and hopeless. These desperate feelings are compounded by the fact that we are no longer around our brothers, isolated in our new transitioning community, and the fact that majority of us have sustained countless injuries from combat and training to include blast trauma that has triggered brain injuries. The SEAL Future Foundation was created to be every SEAL’s swim buddy during transition, to be the answer to all of the gaps: providing camaraderie, purpose, wellness care and service and local communities, components that are necessary for a successful transition and for our survival. We stood up to be the Teams after the Teams.
I want to personally thank you for your continued support of our mission and the men and their families we support. Without your time, mentorship, and donations we would not have been able to help the now 450 SEALs transition. I can also tell you that because of you there are SEALs walking this earth who would not be here. You have saved these men’s lives and saved their families from a darkness that no one should have to experience. Thank you for being a part of this team, this family, and for being a part of something bigger than ourselves.
To my Brothers, please do not be afraid to ask for services. We meet you where you are at in your transition and will work with you to provide the appropriate resources to success, and do so for Life. Transition never ends for us post the Teams and because of that we will always be here to support. If you have found unique treatment modalities that have worked for you please reach out to us so that we can learn more and offer to the rest of the Community if it makes sense. This is our organization and all its resources are yours. We are here to serve you and your families so please to do not be afraid, ashamed or too proud to ask. I know us and know we want to help our brothers but we each need to be 100% to make that happen. So, my advice to you is the same I received from my co-founder a few years ago and that is to be selfish. For the first time in your life be selfish and take care of you. Get back to your prime and then and only then let’s take care of our brothers, our families, this Community, this country, this world.
God Bless and Long Live the Brotherhood!
– Jonathan
