CEO & TWO NAVY VETS HELP OTHERS WITH PTSD AND TBI CREATE NEW BEGINNINGS AFTER SERVICE By Barry Smith, Boot Campaign
Shelly Kirkland, Morgan Luttrell, Alex Oliver Former Navy SEAL Morgan Luttrell is the founder of a revolutionary health and wellness program for veterans with invisible wounds. He also happens to be the twin brother of Marcus Luttrell, fellow Navy SEAL and best-selling author of Lone Survivor - the book that became a box office hit and inspired five Texas women to start the national nonprofit Boot Campaign. The organization had been serving veterans and military families since 2011. So, when Morgan began working on a graduate degree in cognitive neuroscience and came up with a multi-directional plan of attack for treating invisible wounds of war, he brought it to Boot Campaign. The year 2019 marks the fourth consecutive year that helping veterans and military families struggling with debilitating wounds that cannot be seen, like traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic pain, self-medication and insomnia, is top priority for the organization. 24
HOMELAND / January 2019
Understanding that no one organization can address all of the complex issues that compound invisible wounds, Boot Campaign cultivates partnerships with top-tier providers across the U.S. and provides access and funding to individualized and comprehensive roadmaps to recovery. Funding not only covers services, but also gap funding needed to support time away from work and family in order to complete the program. To comment on where Boot Campaign is and where it is headed in 2019 and beyond, Boot Campaign CEO Shelly Kirkland and U.S. Navy SEAL veterans Morgan Luttrell and Alex Oliver got together recently to provide Homeland Magazine with the latest SITREP. Kirkland is entering her third year at the Boot Campaign helm after previously serving as a senior executive with the Center for BrainHealth at UT-Dallas, a partner in the health and wellness program.