Over 450 people representing nearly 30 nations are traveling to Palm Harbor, Florida, for the 4th Annual Global SOF Symposium-US. While the actual Symposium sessions don’t begin until the Tuesday of the week, we’ve realized that many members of the community are typically in town by Monday–so we’ve started kicking off the week with a few special events: a casual golf tournament, an Icebreaker Reception, and a SOF for Life Seminar.
The SOF for Life Seminar is the first session, offering a full day transition workshop for active duty military members of the SOF community who are plus or minus two years from their military separation. This Seminar is put on by The Honor Foundation, one of three non-profits that make up SOF for Life–a program that strives to find meaningful careers for SOF after their military service ends. Joe Musselman, the President of The Honor Foundation, leads this seminar, which brought in 20 participants.
Most impressively, those 20 participants had 477 years of Active Duty SOF experience among them.
Ross Cutler also provided some insights on wealth management; his organization, AAFMAA, and the Global SOF Foundation, are the second and third nonprofits that participate in SOF for Life.
The second annual Global SOF Golf Tournament began just after noon, with 17 teams teeing off on Innisbrook Golf Resort’s North Course. The weather was beautiful, if a bit toasty for February, and it was a great day out on the greens of the world-famous home of the Valspar Golf Championship. A huge thank you to DataPath, Victor42, Insitu, and Tampa Microwave for sponsoring elements of the tournament.
As golfers started coming back to the clubhouse, sharing tales of great drives and close misses, the newly added Chairman’s Reception began in the Osprey Clubhouse Private Dining Room. Global SOF Foundation Chairman of the Board, Mr. Peter Bergen, mingled with SOF for Life participants and GSF Corporate Partners over complimentary wine and local beers.
After the Partner-Only hour wrapped up, the real Icebreaker Reception began.
This event exceeded our expectations last year–we expected 100 guests and had around 200. This year we were more prepared, with hors d’oeuvres and beverages for the large crowd of over 200 attendees who mingled and reconnected, some of whom hadn’t seen one another for over 25 years.
A big congrats to the many winners of the evening–including Kelly Dunn, Nick Gursky, Bill Hunt, and Bob Robinson, the first place team from the Global SOF Golf Tournament. Other standouts included Stephanie Bartenope (Female Longest Drive), Nick Gursky (Male Longest Drive), and Kevin Cochie (Closest to the Pin).
You can see the full album of photos from the day here.
Read on to learn about Day 2 of the Symposium.
The Impact of SOF Films on the Community
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