The Mission Continues founder to speak at UF's Bob Graham Center

March 15, 2010

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Eric Greitens, who co-founded a nonprofit organization dedicated to matching wounded and disabled veterans with service opportunities in their communities, will speak March 24 at the University of Florida’s Bob Graham Center for Public Service.

Greitens, a former U.S. Navy SEAL, helped create The Mission Continues using his combat pay when he returned stateside from Fallujah in 2007. A few days earlier, he had escaped permanent injury when he was shielded from the brunt of the car bomb blast that exploded outside his barracks. Questioning other wounded and disabled veterans, Greitens discovered a common theme: injuries may deny a soldier return to military service, but they do not quell the desire to serve.

Now a Senior Fellow at the Truman School of Public Affairs at the University of Missouri, Greitens will speak about “A Different Kind of Service” at 7 p.m. in the McKay Auditorium, Pugh Hall Room 170.

The Mission Continues co-founder, Kenneth Harbaugh, says that not only should wounded soldiers be recognized for “the sacrifices they have made, but for everything they have left to give.” The organization supports several programs for these veterans. Greitens has contributed more than 2,000 volunteer hours to The Mission Continues and received a President’s Volunteer Service Award in 2008 in recognition of his national leadership.

Jacksonville’s Adam Burke received a full-time Mission Fellowship last year. Burke was injured in a mortar blast while deployed as an infantryman in the U.S. Army. Returning home, he began Veterans Farm, a horticulture therapy farm, to help other veterans like himself with cognitive and hand/eye coordination skills through horticulture therapy.

Greitens was born and raised in Missouri, and was an Angier B. Duke Scholar at Duke University, where he studied ethics, philosophy and public policy. Selected as a Rhodes Scholar and a Truman Scholar, he attended Oxford University, earning a master’s degree in development studies and a doctorate in politics.

As a Navy SEAL officer, Greitens deployed four times and served as the commander of a Joint Special Operations Task Unit, a Mark V Special Operations Craft Detachment and an Al Qaeda Targeting Cell. Greitens was appointed by the president in 2005 to serve as a White House Fellow.

“Eric Greitens: A Different Kind of Service” is free and open to the public. This event will also be streamed live on March 24 from the Bob Graham Center Web site, www.bobgrahamcenter.ufl.edu.

The Bob Graham Center provides students with opportunities to train for future leadership positions, meet policymakers and take courses in critical thinking, language learning and studies of world cultures. Its mission is to foster public leadership and solve issues related to the Americas and homeland security. It also serves as a magnet to attract distinguished scholars and speakers to Florida.