Photo By Edvin Hernandez | Bonnie Carroll, founder and president of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors,...... read more read more
WASHINGTON - “We can’t take away the pain, we can’t undo what has happened, but we can give each other our strength and our hope,” said Bonnie Carroll, the founder and president of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), at Strategic Systems Programs’ Leadership Learning Series in Washington D.C., on July 8, 2025.
Carroll, a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, shared this message along with highlights of her personal life as a part of SSP’s ongoing Leadership Learning Series on July 8, 2025. SSP’s Leadership Learning Series brings periodic leadership development engagements to the SSP workforce to highlight experiences and lessons from the leadership community. Each segment exposes the workforce to leadership thoughts, practices, and inspiration to utilize in the workplace.
Carroll, a former major in the Air Force Reserve, spent 16 years serving in the Air National Guard and knows what it is like to survive the death of loved one in uniform. After her father-in-law, who served as Alaska’s first National Guard adjutant general died in a plane crash in 1964, Carroll and her spouse joked that tragedy wouldn’t strike the same family twice.
“Tom and I always said - because his dad had died that way in an aviation crash in Alaska – that that box had been checked for him,” she said. “It can’t happen twice.”
Then, in 1992, Carroll’s spouse, Brig. Gen Tom Carroll, along with seven other National Guardsmen, were killed when their Army C-12 aircraft crashed in the mountains of Alaska. Faced with personal loss on such an extreme magnitude, Carroll found that she could not fall back on her perfectionist tendencies and grit her way through the experience of losing a loved one. Even though she had spent part of her career providing support for those going through loss, “it is so profoundly different when it’s your personal experience,” Carroll said.
While navigating the grief and necessary logistics that accompany the death of a spouse in the armed services, Carroll realized that there was a limit to what the U.S. government could provide survivors, particularly survivors who were not next of kin. Carroll explained that, in 1992, there was no organization in the U.S. for families to come together and find resources and support as a national family and no framework for those survivors to “grieve as a community.”
Carroll knew right away that there was a need for a new organization that could shift the paradigm of how surviving loved ones of deceased service members dealt with grief, while providing them compassionate care and robust support. After two years of researching the gaps that existed in the support ecosystem, Carroll founded TAPS with the goal of honoring those who have served and died, no matter the circumstances of their death, by caring for all those they loved and left behind.
In the 31 years since its founding, TAPS has provided a variety of programs to survivors, including a 24/7 helpline, community-based care, and casework assistance. What really sets TAPS apart, is the peer-based emotional support that its staff and volunteers provide. Carroll walked SSP’s workforce through exactly what that looked like, describing a system through which all survivors were matched with a support contact that had gone through a similar situation, whether it be a mother losing a child, a former spouse losing a loved one, or a brother losing a sister. While DoD provides for primary next-of-kin support, “TAPS opens that aperture,” Caroll said, connecting people experiencing specific types of grief with those who have walked the same path.
“We want to normalize and validate what we are experiencing,” Carroll said, emphasizing that the peer-based connections are crucial in “making sure there is a soft landing [for survivors].”
TAPS’ commitment to honoring the life and service of all deceased service members, and refraining from passing judgement on the moment or manner of death, means that many families have turned to TAPs following their loved one's battle with physical and mental illness. The number of survivors accessing TAPS resources are increasing year-after-year.
“What we are seeing right now, is 20 years of deployments coming home,” Carroll explains.
“We recognize that the families stood alongside the service member for their entire career,” Carroll said. “Saying a person’s name and sharing their memories are the most precious gifts – honor the life, say the name.”
In 2024 alone, TAPS connected with almost 9,000 new survivor members, outpacing every year before. With the number of survivors reaching out for assistance, Carroll issued a call for those who want to take a more active role in the community.
“Find out what already exists,” she advised. “A rising tide lifts all ships […} figure out where the gaps are and fill those gaps.”
Although many attending the LLS event had never heard of TAPS, others within the command have supported the organization, raising awareness as a member of the Team TAPS in the Marine Corps Marathon of 10k events. Neil Smith, a senior systems engineer with Naval Warfare Center Crane supporting SSP, ran the Marine Corps Marathon as a part of Team TAPS in 2016, and still remembers the impact that the experience that running the “Blue Mile” had on him
“A mile of the course is dedicated to fallen service members using photos lining both sides of the course,” explained Smith.
“Running with TAPS provided a shared purpose of understanding why we run.”
Running with Team TAPS also gave Smith a closer connection to his SSP and military community. Smith hopes that other at SSP will take up the challenge of running with Team TAPS in the future, noting that the experience can benefit everyone in different ways.
“[It will give you] a growth of empathy for the military community, a deeper understanding of sacrifice, and of course, a great sense of accomplishment in finishing a Marathon.”
Following the presentation, those present continued conversations with each other and Carroll on the importance of partner organizations like TAPS, and voiced appreciation for the dedication that it takes to keep these vital resources running for those who need them most.
“The passion is amazing,” Kelly Lee, the director of plans and programs for SSP, said.
Since its founding in 1994 as a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, TAPS has provided around-the-clock support to surviving family members and loved ones who are dealing with the loss of a service member. Over the past 21 years, hundreds of thousands of people have had contact with the TAPS organization, whether through casework assistance, peer-based support services, the TAPS 24/7 helpline, or through the robust TAPS volunteer and community outreach events.
Carroll noted that SSP’s unique culture fostered a family-like environment, and while thanking those in attendance for their engagement and questions, left the audience with a note of encouragement.
“This is what family does,” she said. “We wrap our arms around each other.”
Each branch of the military offers a Casualty Assistance program that provides long-term support to surviving families of service members who have made the ultimate sacrifice. The Navy Casualty Assistance team can be reached at 800-386-3202. Navy Civilian workforce assistance and support is available via DONCEAP at https://magellanascend.com/.
| Date Taken: | 07.15.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 07.15.2025 13:11 |
| Story ID: | 542828 |
| Location: | WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, US |
| Web Views: | 46 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, SSP Welcomes Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors Founder to its Leadership Learning Series, by Shelby Thompson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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