--- title: "Meet Project R3CON, they’re helping heal special operator TBIs" date: "2026-10-24" modified: "2026-10-24" authors: - name: "Logan Nye" job_title: "Senior Contributor, Army Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/logan-nye.md" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/veterans/meet-project-r3con-theyre-helping-heal-special-operator-tbis/" categories: - "Mental Health" - "Veterans" tags: - "Military Culture" - "Special Operations" - "Veterans" --- # Meet Project R3CON, they’re helping heal special operator TBIs ![project r3con carl gustav dvids]() *Spc. Michael Tagalog, assigned to 82nd Airborne Division, fires a Carl Gustaf recoilless rifle from an observation post in Pekha Valley, Afghanistan, Sept. 11, 2017. (U.S. Army/Cpl. Matthew DeVirgilio)* The brains behind Project R3CON are all about making a positive impact for their fellow members of the special operations community. And they’re also about compiling the data to prove that their impact is real. “We're here to help support current and former operators now living with traumatic brain injury,” Anna Richardson, the nonprofit’s president and CEO, said. “Our main program is access to investigational stem cell therapy through licensed providers in the United States. And what we're doing is not only covering down on that financial barrier, but the coordination of care.” **Also Read: [The difference between Special Forces and special operations]()** [Project R3CON was founded by Travis Wilson](), a retired U.S. Army Special Forces veteran. He needed help with his TBIs after retirement and found that stem cell treatment worked for him. Richardson is married to a retired Green Beret and has served the community in another military and veteran nonprofit. ### How Project R3CON Helps America's Special Operators The treatment is technical. But Richardson has a good explanation for people with a basic understanding of stem cells, the self-renewing cells that are vital to injury recovery. “The purpose of the treatment is to address neuroinflammation," she said. "A lot of people have a good understanding of stem cells, whether it's in the sports world, like boxing, through injection. So if you have a musculoskeletal concern, then there's direct injection where the stem cells are directly injected into that muscle group.” That injection is impossible for TBIs, since the inflammation is in the operator’s brain. “There's no direct injection there," Richardson said. "It's going to be working to pass the blood-brain barrier. And so that is through an intranasal application of exosomes and an intravenous application of stem cells. And that is our singular program at this time. We have to be able to demonstrate this therapeutic option is really working toward what we believe it can do, which is aiding and healing the brain.” The nonprofit also collects data to help prove that the approach works. That’s what makes them the perfect [first top recipient of the Military Influencer Conference Impact Awards grant](), awarded on September 25 in Tampa, Florida. ![project R3CON]() *Project R3CON earned the top grant at the 2026 MIC Impact Awards in Tampa, Florida in September.* “The reason that we do that outcome tracking is because we want to be, and we will be, transparent about what we learn. And one of the roadblocks we're running into is that critical funding,” Richardson said. ### Nonprofits Always Need Funds to Achieve Their Missions Like many nonprofits, money limits slow what Project R3CON can accomplish. Richardson said, “ That's what moves somebody from the wait list to the treatment: funding. People want this, we want it, and the process is there.” When Project R3CON learned it had received the top grant award of $25,000 plus $50,000 in pro bono legal services, Richardson knew she would be able to move five patients as soon as the check cleared. “It feels great for multiple reasons. First, because you can call them and say, ‘It’s time,’ but also because we’ll be able to get the data, and that’s the cherry on top, and it raises awareness.” Richardson saw the awareness impact immediately as people came to her in Tamp immediately after the win. She said, “As soon as we heard ‘Project R3CON,’ that first response is, inside of our souls, ‘F-ck yes.’ People will happen across our website or our social media, but just having somebody say it and put it on the line as a worthy cause was really meaningful. The money, the grant, is absolutely necessary, critical. But knowing that that room full of people got to hear our name, and maybe they'll go Google it, and they did, by the way, that was great. “They came up. One individual from Wounded Warrior Project, with whom we've had a great relationship, came up. I got a number of cards from people to follow up who either wanted to help us raise awareness or just ask questions. The impact was immediate.” ![project R3con leadership]() *Project R3CON has a lean leadership team. Screenshot from ProjectR3CON.org/about.* Richardson immediately made sure her founder knew about the win. “ I went out and I called Travis, and he was just obviously elated. So happy, because this is his mission, and here it is. It got, it got a moment, it got a moment in the sun, and that feels really good, and we understand what that moment could turn into.” ### Project R3CON Wants to Help Operators Faster After, or Even Before, a TBI As Project R3CON moves forward, the grant is just a starting point. It gets five people off the waiting list, but there are more operators on that list, even as Richardson is deliberately reaching out slowly to keep the list manageable. As they help more people and raise more funds, Project R3CON hopes to help many more current and former operators recover. “The wait list is intentionally manageable so that I don't have a bunch of individuals who are sitting around waiting for my follow-up, as opposed to that manageable number that I know we can get the funding for," she said. But she’s eager to reach a point where they can swoop in, finding operators who need the therapy and reaching them as fast as possible. “When we get to a place where the revenue is in excess of the demand, then we will absolutely do a coordinated outreach, and that's where we would reach out to our other \[special operations forces\] non-profits that are doing stem cell therapy, and that's when we can really build up how many people we put through,” she said. It’s not just about reaching as many patients as possible, but also reaching them as soon after injury as possible. She said, “We’re asking things like ‘What is prevention like? 'What does it look like if we get there as close to the point of injury as possible?’ Which is why we are grateful to work with Warrior Care Program. Maybe we can get to our active-duty personnel quickly at that point of injury or as soon as is medically appropriate and necessary, versus where we're at kind of right now, which is, ‘Oh, you've got 20 years of service and a TBI, multiple TBIs.’ We're in the treatment place here, but we are fully ready to be in the prevention space as well once that opportunity presents.” But getting there requires funding, both from grants like the MIC Impact Awards and willing donors looking to improve quality of life for special operators during and after their service. Richardson said she always makes time for donors for that reason. “ I will give you all the time in the world, and we hope that that time is meaningful to somebody for the funding aspect. That's what moves somebody from the waitlist to the treatment: funding.” **Don’t Miss the Best of We Are The Mighty** **• [This is the Special Operations Command’s new $92 million rifle]()** **• [Project R3CON wants special operators to know there is plenty of life after TBI]()** **• [The 10 most lethal special operations units from around the world]()** ## Author Logan was an Army journalist and paratrooper in the 82nd. Now, he's a freelance writer covering military history, culture, and technology. He has two upcoming podcasts and a Twitch channel focused on basic military literacy. ### Author social links [Twitter]() [Facebook]()