The Special Operations Warrior Foundation is an American tax-exempt 501 nonprofit organization founded in 1980 to provide college scholarships and educational counseling to the surviving children of Special Operations personnel killed in the line of duty. These services are provided throughout the United States, or overseas, depending upon where the surviving children reside.
The foundation provides full financial assistance for a post-secondary degree from an accredited two or four-year college, university, technical, or trade school; and offers family and educational counseling, including in-home tutoring, to the surviving children of Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps special operations personnel who lose their lives in the line of duty. It also provides immediate financial assistance to severely wounded and hospitalized special operations personnel.
Awards
In 2017, the foundation was awarded its twelfth consecutive four-star rating from the US's leading charity watchdog, Charity Navigator. This esteemed rating places the SOWF in the top one percent of charities rated for its financial efficiency.
History
The SOWF was founded in 1980 following the failed attempt to rescue American hostages being held in Iran. The doomed mission was plagued with problems from the start, but it ended in disaster when a helicopter and C-130 gunship collided in the desert of Iran, at a location now referred to as "Desert One," killing eight military personnel and severely incapacitating another. The fallen warriors left behind 17 children. The survivors took it on themselves to provide college educations for the children of their fallen comrades. The foundation began as the Col. Arthur D. "Bull" Simons Scholarship Fund. It was named in honor of the Army Green Beret, Bull Simons, who repeatedly risked his life on rescue missions. Following creation of the United States Special Operations Command, and as casualties mounted from actions such as Operations Urgent Fury, Just Cause, Desert Storm, and Restore Hope, the Bull Simons Fund gradually expanded its outreach program to encompass all Special Operations Forces. Thus, in 1995 the Family Liaison Action Group and the Spectre Association Scholarship Fund merged to form the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. In 1998 the foundation extended the scholarship and financial aid counseling to also include training fatalities since the inception of the foundation in 1980. This action immediately added 205 children who were now eligible for college funding.
Financial requirements
There are more than 1,100 children of fallen special operations troops with whom the foundation is charged with helping in their education requirements. With nearly 150 children eligible each year for college in the upcoming years, the foundation's estimated financial need, as determined by a third-party actuarial firm, is $146 million. Last year, the foundation provided $4.8 million in scholarship grants, financial aid, and counseling to families of fallen special operations personnel.
