The Coalition to Heal Invisible Wounds (Coalition) announces two new members will join the organization in its efforts to create a comprehensive advocacy agenda to address the invisible wounds of war. The Navy SEAL Foundation and the Green Beret Foundation will join current national Coalition members, New York-based Cohen Veterans Bioscience (CVB), the Montana chapter of the National Alliance for Mental Illness, and the Military Veterans Project of Topeka, Kansas. The Navy SEAL Foundation will partner with Cohen Veterans Bioscience as coalition co-chairs.

Coalition members share a passion for reducing the rates of suicide among active-duty service members and Veterans by advancing Federal policies and reforms aimed at research to address such invisible wounds of war as post-traumatic stress (PTS) and traumatic brain injury (TBI), as well as to address significant comorbid conditions such as pain and substance use disorders. All of these are known to dramatically increase the risk of suicide among Veterans and service members.

Although suicide continues to be a scourge among Veterans and active-duty service members, the Coalition has been making considerable progress since its founding five years ago. The Coalition launched the “100 Days Faster” initiative to improve the start-up times for sponsored clinical trials at the VA from 265 days to the industry-standard of 145 days; improvements garnered by this effort were key to fast-tracking recent COVID studies launched in early 2020 by the VA. The Coalition was also instrumental in ensuring that four important provisions related to Veterans brain health were included in the recently enacted Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act.

“Suicide is at a crisis level among our service members and Veterans, in part due to undiagnosed and untreated invisible wounds. We need an all-hands on deck approach to rally the investments in research urgently needed to effect solutions” said Magali Haas, CEO and President of Cohen Veterans Bioscience, the Chair and founding member of the Coalition to Heal Invisible Wounds. “We are excited to welcome the Navy SEAL Foundation and Green Beret Foundation to the Coalition as we know they bring important leadership, advocacy experience and insights that will help advance the Coalition’s advocacy agenda.”

“Since the attacks of 9/11, the Naval Special Warfare (NSW) community has been at the tip of the spear in the fight to defeat our nation’s enemies. The high operational tempo, coupled with intense training and back-to-back combat deployments, has taken a huge toll on these warriors and their families. Our organization has been working for many years to address complex issues, including suicide, related to service in NSW. Our annual impact forums and warrior health initiatives are moving the needle in the right direction for our community. Joining the Coalition is a natural ‘next step’ for us as we continue to create positive impact for those we support,” notes Robin King, CEO of the Navy SEAL Foundation.

Brent Cooper, Executive Director of the Green Beret Foundation, states, “At the Green Beret Foundation, our objective is to ensure that every Green Beret and Green Beret family member suffering from mental health challenges has access to all necessary avenues of treatment and care. Working together within the coalition on these critical initiatives will greatly enhance our ability to effect change within the Special Operations community.”