Green Beret Foundation is announcing a new partnership with Home Base, a Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Program, to launch traumatic brain injury (TBI) programs targeted to the Green Beret community. U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers are the first-in and most frequently exposed to combat, resulting in a host of conditions and challenges both seen and unseen after nearly two decades of conflicts overseas. Understanding that the Army and Veterans Affairs are not always able to offer a solution that puts every Green Beret on a path to health and wellness, Green Beret Foundation has tapped Home Base to help address the existing gaps in care.

“Green Berets who first joined the Army in the aftermath of the September 11^th attacks will soon reach 20 years of service. Many have reached the point of retirement from active duty. Those soldiers’ tours may be ending, but a new journey is just beginning,” said Angie Fennen, Sr. Director of Programs, of Green Beret Foundation. “We sought to identify a partner to help us address the mental health needs of our soldiers as they transition out of service. We found this partner in Home Base, and we are committed to raising funds in 2020 to support the critical care they are providing to our U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers.”

In answer to this need, Home Base, a partnership between Harvard’s largest teaching hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital and the Red Sox Foundation, will leverage its state of the art four-day and two-week intensive clinical programs (ICP). The ICPs for Veterans and Service Members struggling with the invisible wounds were born out of the recognition that many Veterans and Service Members who desperately need the services of Home Base live too far away to access them.

“Special Forces operators coming through Home Base’s ICPs will receive over a year’s worth of cutting-edge model of care in two weeks,” explained Patrick Smith, a 20-year U.S. Army combat Veteran who serves as the primary liaison for Special Forces operators interested in getting care at Home Base. Smith has worked with Special Forces operators since the launch of the partnership, helping connect Veterans and Active Duty Service Members to care.

“The intensive, focused nature of the ICP is a natural fit for the Special Forces community”, said Michael Allard, Chief Operating Officer at Home Base. “The comprehensive format of the ICP, which includes gold standard, evidenced-based treatment for TBI, Post Traumatic Stress (PTS) and other related conditions, will address the complex set of concerns Special Forces operators often are looking for help with, serving Warriors and their Families no matter where they live and all at no cost, including airfare lodging and care.”

In Home Base’s ICPs, Family Members are included and critically, the services continue beyond the two-weeks. Before they leave for home, the Special Forces operators will be connected to quality providers in their home communities, ensuring a continuity of care for the operator and family.

“The invisible wounds of war are complex injuries that require innovative 21st-century solutions, and that’s what we are trying to do at Home Base and Massachusetts General Hospital,” said Brigadier General (ret.) Jack Hammond, Executive Director of Home Base. “Strategic partnerships are the key to making a national impact and we are sincerely proud to partner with Green Beret Foundation and work with them to provide life-saving care to the Special Forces community and ensure our brave military families can heal from unseen injuries and lead the healthy and productive lives that they so richly deserve.”

To learn more about the Green Beret Foundation, visit www.greenberetfoundation.org.

To learn more about Home Base and its clinical and support services provided to Military Families on a national and regional level, visit www.homebase.org.