When 3d Ranger Battalion veteran John Collett was forced to retire from the military after a training accident, he searched for a way to give back to the Ranger community. Collett needed help; naturally, he called on his Ranger buddies for assistance.
Collett found the leadership and guidance in fellow Somalia veterans and soon after founded the concept for the Three Rangers Foundation. Collect would later add permanent Ranger leaders to the foundation team in Somalia veteran Larry Moores and Panama veteran Marcus Hull.
Since 2015, the Three Rangers Foundation has evolved from an initial concept to a leading Ranger community organization providing veterans with access to professional mentors and experts to assist with transition and provide guidance for a successful life.
"At first, you want to help everyone," Collett said. "Then the reality sets in and you realize, the strength of Three Rangers Foundation is in the network."
"We have a mission to empower all veterans with the knowledge they need to succeed," Collett stated. "This is the ultimate team game for veterans that want to give back."
Moores, who spent most of his 21-year career in Airborne, Ranger and Special Operations assignments, knew that The Three Ranger Foundation would be an evolution more than a destination.
"Three Rangers continues to bring in veterans and great Americans that want to mentor their peers that might benefit from their professional and personal experiences," Moores said.
As Three Rangers' financial director, Hull decided early on that Three Rangers Foundation would be about the long-term success of the veteran community instead of focusing on short-term sustainment.
"If you assist veterans financially in the short-term, you are not empowering them," Hull said. "A lack of personal finances is usually a culmination of many factors, and that is where Three Rangers focuses, on the skills required for long-term success."
"Veterans are husbands, wives, mothers and fathers," said Collet. "Veterans are leading families, so their success in their professional and personal lives has a much greater impact than just the veteran community."
Three Rangers takes an active approach to on-boarding professionals that want to be part of the veteran transition process. Lead by veterans, Three Rangers is now composed of a collection of combat-tested leaders and patriotic citizens that want to give back to those that have sacrificed for their freedoms.
"We have assisted roughly 30 veterans nationwide in the last two years," Moores said. "The satisfaction is in seeing these men and women make the personal commitment for self-betterment while growing the network of organizations that wants to assist the veteran community."
To learn more about the Three Rangers Foundation visit http://www.threerangersfoundation.org/.
Disclaimer: This article is not an official Department of Defense or 75th Ranger Regiment endorsement of Three Rangers Foundation.
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