Last week I participated in the 3rd annual Pat Tillman Leadership Summit, a three-day program designed to introduce new Tillman Military Scholars to the Tillman Community, in College Park, Maryland. The first day of the Summit allowed new Scholars to meet one another, as well as Network Scholars and the staff of the Pat Tillman Foundation. Marie Tillman welcomed us that first evening and shared with us her story of how Pat’s death while serving in Afghanistan inspired her to create the Pat Tillman Foundation. Day one was especially important to the new Scholars because we were able to get to know one another and learn each other’s stories of service, sacrifice and triumph. It was truly humbling to be among such a remarkable group of people, and each Scholar that I spoke with thought the same thing I did: how did they pick me from this group of amazing people?

The second day opened with a panel on the Community Blueprint Network, and then the group split between a Veteran Entrepreneurship Panel and a Career Marketing panel. I attended the Career Marketing Panel and learned how to tell the story of who I am and what the military taught me and how that can be translated onto a resume. In a chance set of events, one of the panelists at the Veteran Entrepreneurship Panel was a gentleman that I served with in the Army. It was great to see him again and do some networking with him and the other panelists. For the remainder of the second day, the Scholars volunteered in a Day of Service in the Washington, D.C. area. My group spent several hours with the residents of Vinson Hall discussing health care and technology. Vinson Hall is a retirement community supported by the Navy Marine Coast Guard Residence Foundation in McLean, VA. The residents we spoke to were great people, and I enjoyed hearing their life stories and learning their views on issues that we all face in today’s world.

The third day of the Summit was spent on Capitol Hill visiting Congressional leaders. I was lucky enough to lead the Arizona delegation on Capitol Hill in a meeting with Senator John McCain. Meeting Senator McCain was a lifelong dream come true. As an Arizona native, I have followed his political career since I was about 16. I have always admired war heroes and politicians, and Senator McCain is both. He served in the U.S. Navy as an aviator during the Vietnam War and was captured as a Prisoner of War in 1967. He remained a POW in Hanoi until 1973. He moved to Arizona in 1981 and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona’s First Congressional District in 1982, and then to the U.S. Senate in 1986. He is currently the senior United States Senator from Arizona and the ranking member of the Senate Armed Forces Committee.

Tillman Military Scholars from Arizona State University and University of Arizona with Senator John McCain.

The Arizona delegation met with Senator McCain for nearly an hour. Just being in his presence was awe inspiring; I was definitely star struck. Senator McCain invited us into his office, congratulated us on being chosen as Tillman Military Scholars and asked us to sit in the chairs and couches in his office. He spoke to us for 20 minutes about current policy and issues and then asked us to introduce ourselves. When I introduced myself and stated that I was studying law, I discovered that the Senator has a sense of humor. After jokingly stating that the world doesn’t need more lawyers, he asked what the difference is between a lawyer and a catfish. The answer, of course, is that one is a scum-sucking bottom feeder and the other is a fish. After introductions and brief discussions about our areas of study, Senator McCain invited us to ask questions of him. The immediate questions were about his stance on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and SB1070. Senator McCain spoke very candidly about both issues; he did not offer canned responses. I worked in the Arizona Legislature and I am very familiar with SB1070 and all of the issues surrounding it, but Senator McCain offered an explanation that included ideas I had never heard before. He also spoke about Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Sheriff Arpaio is usually a taboo subject in Arizona politics, but again, Senator McCain spoke openly about his thoughts on the Sheriff. All together, we spoke with the Senator for about an hour. That hour reinforced my confidence in him as a U.S. Senator, and as my hero.

I was able to attend the Pat Tillman Leadership Summit just a couple days ago and I was intrigued by such an event. As a new Tillman Military Scholar, I thought the Summit was a great way to connect, network and learn about other Scholars. I was absolutely humbled to be surrounded by such educated, successful and inspiring people (and perhaps a little out of place).

The University of Minnesota partnered with the Pat Tillman Foundation this year and we are honored to be ambassadors. Our university representative was able to gather a lot of good ideas and resources to help enhance our veterans programs at the university.

We are looking forward to getting more involved by participating in community events and helping make our university more veteran friendly by providing the necessary tools and resources for their academic success.

The University of Minnesota Scholars were all happy to meet Marie Tillman and hear her story – what a remarkably strong and extremely inspirational woman!

On July 24, the Pat Tillman Foundation, Student Veterans of America and Operation College Promise will formally launch the Education Pillar of the Got Your 6 campaign with hundreds of student veterans, participating universities and colleges, members of Congress, celebrity partners and many others.

The evening will kickoff the Education Pillar’s collection of 500 pledges from Institutions of Higher Learning who commit to implementing or enhancing resources, programs and policies to support their student veteran population.

The Pillar partners also will showcase the student veterans and Tillman Military Scholars from across the nation who are achieving academic excellence due in large part to their own talents, but also because they have access to a peer-support network and attend institutions that have implemented programs that assist student veterans. Roughly 25 such schools have already signed the Education Pillar’s pledge and they will be revealed on July 24.

To conclude the launch event, student veterans from SVA and Tillman Military Scholars will share their personal stories of transition and will be accompanied on stage by a special celebrity guest.

The Pillar’s launch event will come on the heals of two major events for both Student Veterans of America and the Pat Tillman Foundation.

SVA is hosting its annual Leadership Institute from July 19-22 at Google’s Headquarters in Mountain View, CA. Fifty chapter leaders from across the nation will come together to receive one of the most unique training programs for student veterans that has been created to date. Purdue University’s Military Family Research Institute and SVA created a curriculum that teaches student veteran leaders how to “design, develop and deliver” a thriving student veteran organization. All 50 leaders will be empowered to create a business plan for their chapter that is focused on sustainability and changing the landscape of their institution to be more supportive of student veterans.

The third annual Pat Tillman Leadership Summit will take place July 22-24, 2012 at the University of Maryland in College Park. More than 100 Tillman Military Scholars, Foundation board members and staff and representatives of the Foundation’s 14 University Partners will take part in the three day annual Summit. Attendees will participate in leadership development and job skills workshops and volunteer to help with service projects throughout the area. In addition, Tillman Military Scholars will meet with key U.S. Congressional members to share their personal experiences and to bring awareness to the leadership roles filled by veterans and military spouses in today’s society.

Any individual interested in attending should email info@pattillmanfoundation.org to RSVP.

TMS Adam Potter conducts an interview with Lin Sue Cooney and Mark Curtis of 12 News after Pat's Run.

1. The value of a curated veteran’s benefit by quality staff.

Immediately following Pat’s Run, I was asked by another veteran at my school to assist him on a research project about veterans organizations. I was to give feedback on which organizations provided quality services in my experience as a veteran. While answering, I had in mind prior lectures in business school about social organizations and their key success factors: a) there is a dedicated staff that curates the organization; b) the staff is very in touch with their market seeking all chances to interact and get to know each other; and c) the staff emphasizes participation in attempts to create community (not necessarily revenues). Many veterans organizations are out there and they are backed by passionate people with great intentions, but as we reviewed all that were available, we could see room for improvements; it was hard to say any had appeal or had reached out to their intended audiences in a meaningful and sustainable way or comprehensively met the three criteria above. The model in my mind was the Pat Tillman Foundation and particularly Hunter I Riley and Cara Hammer. I remember the first time I attended an event, the Pat Tillman Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. – I entered a room of what seemed like over a hundred people, and having never met or seen each other before, I was greeted by name, by Hunter with a big smile and immediate immersion. That same connection exists and is fostered for everyone. It became even more intense at the Pat’s Run where I was eager to meet everyone again and anyone new. It was becoming community to me and I look forward to more.

2. The value of college in my social transition from military to civilian.

I served 10 years of active duty in the Marine Corps from 2001-2010 with some officer training prior to that and continued drilling reserve status afterwards. While I am very proud of my service, I sensed as my active time was coming to a close that Marine and military culture had truly embedded itself in who I was and as a result, I was growing less culturally adaptive and professionally dynamic as I once was when younger. I could feel work habits and my expectations of interpersonal dynamics becoming more rigid. I was starting to get worried that the flexibility in which I prided to solve complex problems and work among diverse teams was perishing

When I left active Marine service, I hoped to start my own business service private commercial entities. However, my skills were too easily translated back to military service and as a result, I soon became a contractor to the Department of Defense traveling the country and working long hours at various military bases. It was hard to accomplish my own professional goals to transition to a new skill set and work environment while paying the bills and maintaining the household I had built as a mid-thirty year old. So I continued serving the military, but as a civilian

I needed time to go to school and finances to pay for the costs of education which have soared in tuition and in my own personal living standards and family obligations I had achieved up to my mid-level executive career

The Pat Tillman Foundation and Post-9/11 GI Bill have been the fundamental enablers of my ability to re-invest in myself as well as augment the skills I developed in the military with skills directly valuable to companies I learned at business school. My business school took interpersonal relationships and executive communication seriously and I took full advantage of formal courses, workshops and coaches in an attempt to capture my social flexibility and confidence with ideas and personalities coming from any source

Pat’s Run was the first time I was able to experience the value of this education in a new environment away from school where I had been incubating them over the prior 6-7 months. I was even able to benchmark from the prior Pat Tillman Leadership Summit in summer 2011 prior to going to college. Being able to move about the various new people I was exposed to over the weekend and interact with ease was great for me. I can definitely navigate a financial statement after going to business school, but just as importantly, I can navigate diverse people and civilian organizations after having the time to enjoy a safe environment for exposure at school.

3. Phoenix loves Pat Tillman!!!!

Often times when I talk about being a Tillman Military Scholar in other parts of the country, I have to refresh people’s memories. Not in Phoenix! I arrived wearing Tillman Military Scholar clothing and locals asked about or honored Pat Tillman constantly. Even more so, to enter the Sun Devil Stadium area and have it PACKED with people, all wearing Pat’s Run paraphernalia was moving! After Pat’s Run, as I boarded my plane, I was stopped multiple times upon entering the airport all the way to my seat on the plane.

• The TSA security guard who examined my ID and boarding pass: “That man,” pointing to the Pat’s Run logo on my chest and taking a moment to compose herself, “he was a good one.”
• The Southwest attendant as I boarded the plane: “The run was today! I go every year! Except today’s…I had to work. I’ll make up for it on the run next year!”
• Passing a seated man in the front of the plane on the way to my seat: Both Thumbs Up in the Air!

I think it says a lot about a city when a certain personality comes to represent it and its people uniformly choose her or him to be their symbol. Coming from San Diego, Shamu the Whale comes to most people’s minds and it is a very accurate representation of how seriously we take ourselves there. Leaving Phoenix, I hold it in higher esteem now knowing who they overwhelmingly choose to be their symbol.

Dear Pat Tillman Foundation Supporter,

Every November as communities throughout the country take time to celebrate Veterans Day, I am grateful that I have the privilege through the efforts of the Pat Tillman Foundation to honor military families and the sacrifices they make each and every day of the year. I am often asked what I enjoy most about the work that we do at the Foundation and the answer is simple – spending time and interacting with our amazing Tillman Military Scholars.

In June, the Pat Tillman Foundation welcomed the third class of Scholars into the Tillman Community by investing over $916,000 in educational scholarships. It was a highly competitive application process that saw over 1200 applications narrowed down to the 60 outstanding individuals that were selected. This summer, I had the pleasure of spending several days in Maryland at our annual Pat Tillman Legacy Summit with 90 of our 171 Tillman Military Scholars and was honored to see and hear first-hand the impact that Pat’s life, the Foundation and our supporters have made in their lives.

As I listened to the Scholars share their very personal stories with me, explaining why they chose to serve, what their experience was like and the challenges they face upon their return, it is clear that there is still a tremendous amount of work that needs to be accomplished. In addition to a lack of understanding by the general population, servicemembers are returning at unprecedented rates to an unstable economy and highly competitive job market resulting from high unemployment rates. Obtaining a degree is no longer an ambitious goal, but rather a required step to ensure economic stability. Through the Tillman Military Scholars program our goal is to bridge the gaps left by the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill. By removing obstacles that would prohibit a servicemember or spouse from achieving academic success, the program aims to provide the financial and educational resources needed to prevent undeserved debt and establish a foundation for greater career opportunities.

Today, we invite you to join us as we fulfill our mission of investing in military veterans and their spouses through educational scholarships; building a diverse community of leaders committed to service to others.

Below are just a few of the many ways you can get involved:

Run, Walk, Honor
Join 35,000 participants, volunteers and spectators from throughout the U.S. at the 8th Annual Pat’s Run. Registration is now open and space is limited. Register today to participate in the 4.2 mile run/walk or .42 mile Kids Run or donate your time and talents as a volunteer at the event.

Commit. Challenge. Support.
Become a member of Team Tillman. The Pat Tillman Foundation is honored to be recognized as an Official Charity Partner with guaranteed entries to participate in some of the most prestigious marathons in the world including the ING New York City Marathon, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon and the Marine Corps Marathon. Individuals can also earn gear and raise funds to support the Pat Tillman Foundation in conjunction with any race or athletic event nationwide.

Give. Donate. Invest.
Invest in veterans and military families by making your secure tax-deductible credit card donation online now.

Stay Informed
The Pat Tillman Foundation is upgrading our e-communications tool and respectfully request that you confirm your preferred e-mail address to stay up to date on Scholar achievements, news and upcoming events by completing this form. We also invite you to Become a Fan on Facebook – Pat Tillman Foundation (Official) and Follow us on Twitter @pattillmanfnd.

Since the Foundation was established in 2004, through the generous support of individuals and organizations nationwide, over $4 million has been invested in men and women committed to a life of service, both in and out of uniform. In recognition of Veterans Day we invite you to take a moment to view the interactive Scholar map online to learn more about the Tillman Military Scholars who are making a difference in your community.

Thank you for helping us honor Pat’s legacy by inspiring others to create their own.

Warm regards,

Marie Tillman
Co-Founder & President

One highlight came on Monday, July 11, when after a morning of leadership and career workshops, approximately 225 volunteers, 90 of whom were Tillman Military Scholars and 15 of whom were boys from Baltimore Raven Domonique Foxworth’s Baltimore BORN organization, carried out a clean-up and beautification effort in the Oliver neighborhood of Baltimore as a part of the Pat Tillman Legacy Summit Day of Service. In only 4 hours in the neighborhood, an economically depressed and crime-ridden area featured in the popular television series The Wire, volunteers gathered and removed garbage by the truckload, overfilling a 40-yard city dumpster and covering an area a 1/2 mile long and a 1/4 mile wide. In addition, weeds were trimmed, fresh mulch was laid down and a large mural was painted.

Pat Tillman Legacy Summit Day of Service in the Oliver Neighborhood of Baltimore. Photo by Josh Davidson.

Another highlight came at Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, July 12, when Tillman Military Scholars split into teams by state to meet with their congressional representatives. In over 35 meetings – a majority of  which were with the Representative and/or Senator themselves – Scholars built awareness for the Pat Tillman Foundation and Tillman Military Scholars program and offered themselves as a resource to their representatives.

Tillman Military Scholars at the U.S. Capitol. Photo by Josh Davidson.

To view more photos of Tillman Military Scholars in action, visit these links on Flicker – Day of Service & Capitol Hill – or find the Pat Tillman Foundation on Facebook.

The Summit provided a unique opportunity to highlight the needs and hardships faced by military families today. Pat Tillman Foundation Board Chair Marie Tillman was joined on Capitol Hill by Arizona Senator John McCain, Arkansas Senator Mark Pryor and inaugural Tillman Military Scholars Aaron and Bonnie Contreras, William “Spanky” Gibson, Richard Garcia, Jed Hefner and Dennis Robinson in an effort to shed light on the challenges military families face.

To see a a portion of Marie Tillman’s speech, click play here:

this link

For photos from the Summit, see below.

Photos by Doug Kapustin

Two local UM-Flint students attend Pat Tillman Legacy Summit in Washington, D.C.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 | The Flint Journal | Submitted by Cameron Waites

My name is Cameron Waites. I am a student veteran at the University of Michigan-Flint, and also a scholar in the National Institutes of Health Undergraduate Scholarship Program. Currently, I’m at the NIH in Bethesda, Maryland, where I’m working for the summer, trying to learn more about and do biomedical research. I wanted to let you know about the Pat Tillman Foundation’s “Pat Tillman Legacy Summit” that took place last week. As Jeremy Glasstetter and I are both Tillman Military Scholars, we represent the Pat Tillman Foundation and participated in the Legacy Summit in Washington, D.C.

We were at the Capitol last Tuesday and Wednesday meeting with our congressional representatives to tell them about our experiences transitioning from the military as servicemembers back into civilian life as students, and how the Tillman Military Scholars program and Pat Tillman Foundation has assisted the success of our transition. During our time at the Capitol, we met with Senator Carl Levin to discuss these aims, and also happened to meet Senator John McCain and Senator Daniel Akaka. During the Summit Reception, we met Senator McCain again and he seemed to remember us from the previous day. It was quite an awesome time!

The Pat Tillman Foundation’s mission is to invest in veterans and their families through education and community. The path to achieving this mission is the Tillman Military Scholars program – a program that I am a proud and fortunate to be a part of.

The Summit we hosted represents the beginning of an important effort by the Pat Tillman Foundation to increase public awareness of the hardships endured by military families, and to tell the stories of my fellow Tillman Military Scholars.

Cameron Waites is from Mt. Morris. Jeremy Glasstetter is a Davison native.

Cameron Waites, left, Sen. John McCain and Jeremy Glasstetter.
Second row, from left, are Jason Quian, David Boone and Alyssa Huebner

Pat Tillman Legacy Summit | June 9, 2010

The demonstrated need for academic resources and support for of our Armed Forces proved to be so great that in 2009 the Foundations’ Board of Directors, led by Pat’s wife, Marie Tillman, decided to commit the organization fully to a major national initiative to enable our veterans and their families to fulfill their academic dreams and become the next “Greatest Generation.”

The story of Pat’s life and legacy continues to inspire the country and has the power to shine a light on the experiences of all of those who serve. By weaving together the story of Pat Tillman with those selected to carry on his legacy through the Tillman Military Scholars program, we tell the story of the power, potential and devotion of every vet and military family member.

To accomplish this mission of celebrating Pat’s legacy and sharing the experiences of our military families, Pat Tillman Foundation will host two days of events in Washington, D.C. June 8 – 9, 2010. The inaugural “Pat Tillman Legacy Summit” schedule will include a day on Capitol Hill for the Tillman Military Scholars, service at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and a VIP reception at the Eastern Market.

For more information on the Pat Tillman Legacy Summit please email info@pattillmanfoundation.org.