Subscribe
In August 2014, Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Adam Foutz was diagnosed with a condition requiring a biologic treatment. His doctor ordered him to stop all physical activities.
“That meant I couldn’t do a physical fitness test, which is one of the main requirements of being a Marine.” He thought, “I'm going to have to get out.”
He entered the Integrated Disability Evaluation System, where he learned about the Defense Health Agency’s Warrior Care Recovery Coordination Program. Each branch of service and U.S. Special Operations Command have a program that ensures wounded, ill, and injured service members get nonmedical support tailored to their needs. That work, day-to-day, from the ground up, is fulfilled by dedicated recovery care coordinators.
Charged with helping these service members develop comprehensive plans for transition, the coordinators help identify individual goals and needs, ultimately to assist a successful recovery and transition.
Their methods revolve around a single, thoughtful question.
“What's your why? Why do you get up every morning?” said Jonathan Morris, deputy director of Warrior Care Recovery Coordination Program operations. “The goal with our program is to make sure that they have a good, positive purpose, to help them, and to sustain the fighting force.”
Coordinators meet with each service member to guide transitioning back into their unit or to civilian life. That effort can last months to years to accomplish — however long it takes for the service member and family to progress to their next steps.
The framework is built around eight pillars of the program:
• Daily living: housing, transportation, adaptive needs
• Education and career planning: training, internships, employment
• Family: caregiver support, family programs
• Financial readiness: financial assistance and guidance
• Health: medical care and specialty support
• Legal: guardianship and legal resources
• Military: transition assistance and benefits
• Spirituality: faith-based support
The key in building recovery around these pillars “is to be holistic,” said Morris.
Recovery has no limits
Coordinators may manage as many as 40 cases at a time, at varying stages of progress and with differing needs.
“There's no restriction on what we can cover in terms of the type or cause of injury or illness,” said Randi Ramcharan, director of the Warrior Care Recovery Coordination Program.
“This program is not just for combat wounded, it's for anyone who has been wounded, ill, or injured. The categories are far and wide; we have a lot of cancer patients that are in the program, people who are in training accidents or vehicle accidents.”
For Morris, a retired U.S. Army veteran, a foster parent to people with disabilities, and a former intensive care unit nurse at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, he said his experiences shape his work with service members.
“I take everything I've done in my 38 years and apply it here. The stories can be the same in many cases: having access to benefits and resources.”
Foutz recalled seeing a wide range of wounds, illnesses, and injuries among those going through the process alongside him.
“This is me with just a condition. I’m struggling to navigate this process. There are people with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries trying to navigate this process or that have a caregiver who doesn't understand the jargon trying to do the same.”
The program in action
In 2014, as he unpacked his coming transition out of the military, Foutz turned to his coordinator for support as he processed overwhelming feelings of losing his identity and purpose.
“This is what I'm feeling, this is what I'm going through and I’d like to work through this because whether it’s in 10 years or 20 years, I'll be faced with this transition,” he told his coordinator. They began to work together on the eight pillars of the program. “She had her recovery care plan. We went line by line: financial services, employment, education, and internships.”
Foutz said he was struck by the patience and persistence of his recovery care coordinator as they navigated the process.
“You don't always have the answer right up front, but she was very diligent in meeting with me, whether through a phone call, an email, or physically coming to the unit and meeting with my command to educate them.”
As Foutz’s medical board progressed, his service neared its end. He faced the possibility of losing income.
“I am married. I have a family. I had 48 hours to get this paperwork processed to stay on contract.”
His coordinator expedited the paperwork and advocated on his behalf.
“I got to stay on active duty until I finished out the medical board and she educated my command on the administrative requirements for when a service member is going through the medical process.”
She also introduced Foutz and his command to Operation Warfighter, which places service members in internships with federal agencies.
“She educated them on an opportunity for an active duty service member like me to join another organization through on-job training,” he said. Ultimately, this led to his first job outside of the Marine Corps.
Family, purpose at the center of recovery
“You must include the family. We've learned over the years that if you don't include the family, the service member gets stressed because the family is out there struggling, trying to pay bills, and in some cases — that service member may have amputations, traumatic brain injury, anxiety, or depression.”
Coordinators also connect service members to programs that foster purpose and community. Morris has connected service members to the Military Adaptive Sports Program, which offers reconditioning activities and competitive opportunities such as the 2025 Department of Defense Warrior Games.
While service members are at the heart of the program, the coordinators are the “glue,” Ramcharan said.
“They're the ones who get to know every service member personally, their family, and their caregiver. They know them intimately.”
For service members like Foutz — who is successfully employed with a thriving family life — Ramcharan said the program helps to “achieve their goals and find a successful path back to civilian life or back to their unit.”
What’s Foutz ‘why?’
He said it’s to share how the program kept him going and helped him find a new mission and vision.
“The resources that are available through the program help you to understand that there is life beyond your wounds, illnesses, and injuries,” Foutz said.
“You realize you're not alone.”
| Date Taken: | 11.18.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 11.18.2025 14:35 |
| Story ID: | 551598 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 11 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Recovery care coordinators help find the 'good, positive purpose' for service members, by Andrew Ortuzar, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
