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Posts Tagged ‘Task Force Dagger’

Task Force Dagger Foundation Recognizes Tracfone Support for Special Operations Service Members

Sunday, June 24th, 2018

Funds Will Be Used to Support Special Operators’ Family Needs Not Fully Covered By Military, Dept. of Defense, Veterans Affairs or Insurance; Hundreds of Thousands of Vets Already Served by TracFone’s SafeLink Service Under Federal Lifeline Program

WASHINGTON, D.C. and MIAMI – June 21, 2018 – The nonprofit Task Force Dagger Foundation (TFDF) is announcing new support from TracFone Wireless, Inc. (TracFone), America’s top no-contract cell phone service provider, to help meet the special needs United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) service members and their families.

Charles “Keith” David, managing director, Task Force Dagger Foundation said: “We respond to immediate needs that are short fuse and critical in nature. When we receive a request for assistance, we respond within two hours or less to get the needed support into the hands of the service member and his or her family. The needs that are covered are so varied that they are hard to describe and include everything from flights, lodging, rental cars, and other items too numerous to describe. If it is requested by the Command, then is is a verified need and we take action. TracFone deserves recognition for agreeing to step up and help those who have served our nation.”

Under the federal Lifeline program, the SafeLink Wireless service provided by TracFone reaches hundreds of thousands of the more than one million veterans now enrolled in the Lifeline program. TracFone is among the many consumer, senior, and military support voices today opposing a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proposal that would end Lifeline service for up to 1.3 million vets.

Where will the TracFone money provided to the Task Force Dagger Foundation go?

The nonprofit provides programs and service in three major areas:

Immediate Needs – TFDF assists Special Operations personnel and their families with needs that are not covered by the Military, Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, or insurance. Our average response time from request to support is two hours.

SOF Health Initiatives – TFDF assists Special Operations Forces (SOF) personnel and their families with care and treatment focusing on how to heal the person versus treatment where providing prescription medication is the answer. TFDF works with various organizations on ways to treat Post Traumatic Stress (PTS) and Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) and to reduce the number of veteran suicides.

Rehabilitative Therapy Events – TFDF sponsors activities that foster a sense of well-being, offer encouragement, and assist the service member’s rehabilitation and recovery from wounds and injuries sustained while serving our country.

ABOUT TASK FORCE DAGGER FOUNDATION

Task Force Dagger Foundation provides assistance to wounded, ill, or injured United States Special Operations Command members and their families. We respond to urgent needs, conduct Rehabilitative Therapy Events, and provide next-generation health solutions for issues facing our service members. Our cohesive programs enable families to seize the moment and live life. https://www.taskforcedagger.org/

About TracFone Wireless, Inc.

TracFone is a no-contract cellphone service provider owned by TracFone Wireless Inc., America’s largest no-contract cell phone provider. TracFone Wireless is a subsidiary of América Móvil S.A.B. de C.V. (“AMX”) (BMV: AMX; NYSE: AMX; Nasdaq: AMOV; LATIBEX: XAMXL). AMX is the leading provider of telecommunication services in Latin America.

Grey Ghost Precision Team Shooter JP Sullivan, Secures Top Placement at 3rd Annual, Task Force Dagger 3Gun Championship

Tuesday, June 12th, 2018

June 12, 2018 – Grey Ghost Precision is proud to announce team shooter, JP Sullivan’s fourth place finish, out of 154 competitors, at the 3rd Annual Task Force Dagger 3Gun Championship, held June 8-10, in Clinton, SC.

Sullivan, who competes in 3 Gun, USPSA, and Precision Rifle matches, has won numerous local matches and placed in the Top 10 at multiple major matches across the country using modified GGP Light 5.56 rifles.

Currently serving as an Army Captain on Active Duty with 3 deployments to Afghanistan and other overseas Assignments, Sullivan chooses to run the Grey Ghost Precision Light (5.56), with an 18″ barrel for his rifle during the competitions.

The 2018 Task Force Dagger Foundation 3Gun Championship is an entertaining three-day military-style, physically and mentally challenging event. The match features 8 stages, and 18 Squads with 15 competitors per squad. The stages are designed to present dynamic shooting challenges, as well each stage designed to individually memorialize a USSOCOM service member or a significant combat operation.

“The skill level of the competitors was no doubt the deepest talent pool I have seen at the match,” stated Sullivan. “The first and second place finishers are both multi-time national champions and damn near unstoppable so it was a battle for third, and I’m honored to have been among that group of finishers.”

Sullivan is one of several active duty, Special Operations Military members the team at Grey Ghost entrusts their firearms with, to provide honest and real feedback.

“My rifle is by far my best of the 3 guns I have. I also compete with the GGP Grim (6.5 Creedmoor), which doesn’t require any modifications due to it being so awesome out of the gate and ready for competition,” stated Sullivan. “Needless to say, the team at GGP is one that I trust completely.”

With a number of prototypes in the hands of trusted industry partners and professionals, from Special Forces teams and instructors, Law Enforcement, competition shooters and hardcore hunters, Grey Ghost isn’t one of those companies who asks for help and then decide they’re going to do it their way anyway. The team takes every ounce of feedback, in conjunction with design and engineering, and the product you see come out of the box will be the result of legitimate evaluations and honest opinion.

“We make it a point to remain relevant to our customers by being in constant contact with them,” stated Jason Curns, Vice President of GGP. “Feedback is the most important aspect in design and manufacturing – and we realize how imperative it is to humble ourselves to know that. We are incredibly end-user focused; and with several of our products currently being deployed with teams in combat, our focus on the feedback from those who put themselves into harms way is the most imperative.”

“Having JP as part of the Grey Ghost team is not only an honor, but is a truly imperative ingredient to how we as a company operate,” stated Casey Ingles, CEO of GGP. “Without professionals such as JP, we wouldn’t be able to produce the products we do, and be able to provide those who use them, the confidence to know they will operate when needed.”

Task Force Dagger Foundation And East Carolina University Team Up To Explore Underwater WWII Sites

Monday, September 4th, 2017

Task Force Dagger Foundation partners with East Carolina University’s Maritime Studies Program to explore and research WWII sites in the western Pacific.

Dallas, Texas (PRWEB) August 01, 2017

Task Force Dagger, a nonprofit organization that supports all U.S. Special Operations Command service members and their families, is joining forces with the East Carolina University Department of History’s maritime studies program to explore and research WWII underwater archaeological sites in the western Pacific.

Dr. Jennifer McKinnon investigates a Kawanishi H8K Japanese seaplane. (Photo by Jon Carpenter)

Dr. Jennifer McKinnon investigates a Kawanishi H8K Japanese seaplane. (Photo by Jon Carpenter)

Task Force Dagger, a nonprofit organization that supports all U.S. Special Operations Command service members and their families, is joining forces with the East Carolina University Department of History’s maritime studies program to explore and research WWII underwater archaeological sites in the western Pacific.

The maritime studies program has several faculty and staff that work on military-related and WWII archaeological sites all over the world.

Associate professor Dr. Jennifer McKinnon has been working on military sites in the Pacific for nearly 10 years. In partnership with Ships of Exploration and Discovery and the local community of Saipan, McKinnon developed the WWII Maritime Heritage Trail: Battle of Saipan in 2009. The heritage trail consists of nine underwater U.S. and Japanese sites in Saipan’s crystal-clear, tropical lagoons. The sites include amphibious vehicles such as landing vehicles and tanks, aircraft, and shipwrecks, all lost in the 1944 Battle of Saipan.

McKinnon said that the partnership with Task Force Dagger is a boon for continuing to research these sites. “Active military and veterans have an incredible firsthand knowledge of warfare, tactics and military material,” she said. “Their knowledge and experience has the potential to contribute so much to the research we are conducting in the Pacific. It really is a reciprocal relationship.”

Charles “Keith” David, managing director of Task Force Dagger and retired U.S. Army Special Forces, said the organization is looking forward to solidifying the collaboration through a memorandum of agreement and seeking grant funding for the project.

The Task Force Dagger Foundation will join McKinnon and the maritime studies program next summer in a special recreational therapy adaptive event that trains special operations command service members in scuba diving and underwater archaeology. The team will then travel to Saipan to continue locating and recording WWII underwater archaeological sites.

TFD is looking forward to the relationship with ECU and building a program through which veterans and active service members can train in archaeological methods and assist in future efforts to recover lost service members whose remains are still lost at sea

For more information about Task Force Dagger visit www.taskforcedagger.org. For more information about the WWII Maritime Heritage Trail visit www.pacificmaritimeheritagetrail.com.

Contact: Dr. Jennifer McKinnon, mckinnonje(at)ecu.edu, 252-328-6788

“Metal Fever” by Jim Schatz

Monday, April 3rd, 2017

A horrible scourge is stealing the health from many of my friends, and taking the lives of still others. Heavy metal poisoning is an affliction we are just beginning to comprehend. It almost sounds like some quaint illness from the 19th century but its effects are manifesting themselves in members of the profession of arms. So far, the SOF community has been at the forefront of identifying it but as this briefing by Jim Schatz shows, so many more have been exposed to heavy metals.

Jim Schatz left us with a great deal of information on small arms, but this briefing on the effects of heavy metal poisoning, presented to the NDIA Joint Armaments Forum in 2014, is one we should all review. Just take a look at the symptoms. They are easy to rationalize as another illness, or “just getting old”. As you’ll learn in this briefing, exposure is much simpler than spending lots of time in a shoothouse. I’ll go one step further than this briefing and remind those who’ve deployed that exposure to industrial waste is more likely in locales that lack effective means of disposal.

Please, take a few minutes to go over this briefing. Many of our breathren are suffering from the effects of heavy metal poisoning. One of them could be you.

To download your copy, click here.

Thanks to the SOF Health Initiatives Program for sharing this briefing with us.

OPERATION PHOENIX: Rising From the Ashes

Monday, March 14th, 2016

I recieved this announcement on the Task Force Dagger website from some friends. I met Josh Collins at a TF Dagger event near Omaha last Veteran’s Day. We spent some time talking and turns out we were both enlisted Army guys who went to OCS (I switched to the Air Force though) and we had a few other things in common. His story really resonated with me. Unfortunately for Josh, he has some TBI issues but he told me that Stand Up Paddle Boarding was really helping him out and that he had planned this awesome trip to raise money and awareness for wounded veterans. He’s off in that adventure now. Please consider supporting his cause.

Josh Collins will start an epic journey on March 5th, 2016. He will attempt to set a world record Stand Up Paddle Board (SUP) distance record from Corpus Christi, Texas around the Florida Keys, and culminating at the Statue of Liberty in New York City.

Why is Josh doing this? To help save his fellow service members who are suffering form the hidden wounds of war.

To learn more about the event – www.boteboard.com/operation-phoenix

To support Josh’s effort through a donation – www.crowdrise.com/veteranvoyage360/fundraiser/joshcollins

To purchase a raffle ticket for a Bote Board – www.raffleamerica.com

The map below shows the route that Josh will be taking during the event.

  
Josh’s efforts are truly amazing and the effort that he has put into preparing for this endeavor that worthy of a professional athlete. Actually, as a member of the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), whether they are Army, Navy, Air Force or Marines; they can be considered in the professional athlete class based on the amount of training each team member/operator goes through and the cost/value of the training that prepares the individual SOF member to be mission ready. There is no “off season” for a member of SOCOM. They have to be ready to deploy and fight on a moment’s notice.

The preparation that Josh went through to get ready for his upcoming 3,500 mile was hard and exhausting. He attended a performance camp. This camp: EXOS is where professional athletes go to improve their overall performance and to recover. SOCOM has also been sending some of their wounded members to EXOS so that they can return to “operational” status and continue to defend our country from the shadows.

The following video is of Josh at EXOS and going through training on dry ground. This helps with form and endurance.

www.facebook.com/veteranvoyage360/videos/819277901532693

I hope you will join Josh and cheer him on as he visit your region.

There are twelve rally points where you can show your fupport and paddle with Josh or just be there and cheer him on.

26 March – New Orleans, Louisiana

2 April – Ft. Walton Beach, Florida

16 April – Tampa Bay, Florida

30 April – Key West, Florida

24 May – Cocoa Beach, Florida

28 May – Tybee Island/Savannah, Georgia

4 June – Charleston, South Carolina

11 June Camp Lejeune, North Carolina

18 June – Dam Neck, Virginia

25 June – Arlington, Virginia

9 July – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

23 July – Statue of Liberty – Operation Phoenix End Point

Continue to check the Veteran Voyage 360 webpage for updates www.veteranvoyage360.com.

YOU can make a difference…

Green Beret Adventure Team And Task Force Dagger Foundation Have Partnered To Raise Funds For Treating TBIs And PTSD

Thursday, September 3rd, 2015

Two Special Forces soldiers will visit Fort Bragg in October as part of their cross-country trip to raise awareness for traumatic brain injuries and PTSD. The Green Beret Adventure Team, founded by Zach Garner and Adam Smith, is visiting every Special Forces group in the U.S. as part of its 4 month long bicycle trek across the country. Fort Bragg is home to the 3rd Special Forces Group and at one time 7th Special Forces Group.

The team is scheduled to get into Fort Bragg on Oct 14, where a fundraiser will be held at Carolina Ale House to welcome the two. Garner, a former member of 7th Special Forces Group, and Smith, formerly of the 19th/20th Special Forces groups, are now veterans, but their transition to civilian life was difficult. Garner suffered from seizures after being exposed to combat operations and was soon medically discharge from the Army due to a traumatic brain injury. Smith, had problems with the transition to civilian life and at times felt he was losing control.

Garner and Smith have partnered with the non-profit Task Force Dagger Foundation to raise funds that will go toward a holistic approach to healing TBIs and PTSD. The SOF Health Initiatives Program is a Mind, Body, Spirit and Purpose driven program focused on finding the root causes of illness and treating them with Functional Medicine. The SOF Health Initiatives Program offers a full systems, patient-centric approach to medicine and creates an environment conducive to healing and recovery. The SOF Health Initiatives Program also offers a platform to educate and empower health care providers, service members and their families how to repair and maintain themselves

Garner and Smith are currently in Colorado for their event in Colorado Springs. They will be headed to Dallas next, to follow Fort Campbell, Fort Bragg, and then make their final stop at Eglin AFB home of 7th Special Forces Group.

Amy Quinn, is the community outreach for Task Force Dagger and is coordinating the event here at Fort Bragg. If you have any questions please reach out to her amy.quinn@taskforcedagger.org.

Task Force Dagger Foundation – Dagger Dive 2015

Sunday, April 26th, 2015

MATBOCK has produced a ‘Whiskey 5’ to explain an upcoming Recreational Therapy Event being held by Task Force Dagger:

1. WHO: Task Force Dagger Foundation

2. WHAT/WHERE/WHEN: Conducts a Recreational Therapy Event in Key West, FL from 16-24 June

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3. WHY: TF Dagger sponsors activities that foster a sense of well-being, offer encouragement, and assist the service member’s rehabilitation and recovery from wounds/injuries sustained while serving our country. One of our core beliefs is that if the soldier is injured, the whole family is injured and must heal together. Teamwork is more than being on a Special Forces Team, it is being part of a family that is stronger together. As such, when we conduct an RTE, we bring the whole family and include the whole family in the activities. Our activities include Scuba, 3 Gun shooting events, Outdoor activities such as white water rafting, fishing, sailing, horseback riding, skiing, and snowmobiling.

The hard cost for the event is $115k and they need to secure the money by 8 May for the mission to be a success. Each donor will still get a storyboard for their donation. MATBOCK is asking for everyone to join together and help us make this event a success and give back to these awesome families.

www.taskforcedagger.org/donate

Task Force Dagger 3 Gun Match This Weekend

Saturday, June 15th, 2013

The 2013 TASK FORCE DAGGER / AIM 3-Gun Championship this weekend (June 14-16) in Blakey, GA.

TFD

Task Force Dagger Mission Statement: The Task Force Dagger Foundation is dedicated to providing immediate assistance to Wounded, Ill, or Injured USASOC soldiers and their families. The TFD Foundation also sponsors and organizes recreational therapy activities that foster a sense of well-being, offer encouragement, and assists the service member’s recovery from wounds or injuries sustained in the line of duty.

And, they have some great sponsors.

www.tfd3g.com