Our Impact
From a Conversation to Federal Law
The Oath of Exit
The Spartan Pledge began as a promise between two veterans. It grew into a movement that thousands joined. And then it became something Boone never set out to create — the foundation of a federal policy.
The Oath of Exit concept, rooted in the Spartan Pledge's principle that every separating service member should have a battle buddy and a next mission, was written into law. It represents a fundamental shift in how the military approaches the transition from service to civilian life — not as a bureaucratic process, but as a commitment between warriors.
Boone called the pledge “a battle plan — what to do when you don't know what to do.” The Oath of Exit made that battle plan part of the system.
The Crisis by the Numbers
Source: VA 2024 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report (most recent data: 2022)
Veteran suicides per day — the current VA figure
Veteran suicides recorded in 2022
Estimated daily total per Mission Roll Call, including veterans outside VA tracking
Increase in age-adjusted suicide rate for male veterans since 2001
Why Not 22?
The “22 a day” figure was the prevailing statistic during much of Boone's advocacy. The current VA data shows 17.6 per day. Mission Roll Call's independent analysis, which includes veterans outside VA tracking systems, estimates the true number may be as high as 44 per day. The foundation uses the current VA figure while acknowledging that many veteran suicides go uncounted.
Of the 17.6 daily veteran suicides, 7 are among veterans who received VHA care. The remaining 10.6 are veterans outside the VA system entirely — people the system has lost track of. After age adjustment, veterans die by suicide at a rate 10.5% higher than the general population.
There are signs of progress in specific populations — female veteran suicide rates decreased 24.1% from 2021 to 2022, and younger veterans (age 18-34) saw a 3.8% decrease. But the long-term trajectory remains alarming, and the gap between VA tracking and independent estimates suggests the full scope of the crisis is still not understood.
Partner Organizations
The Boone Cutler Foundation doesn't work alone. These organizations share the mission of keeping veterans alive and connected.
LCPL Janos V. Lutz Live to Tell Foundation
An organization Boone was actively involved with, dedicated to veteran suicide prevention and awareness.
DAV (Disabled American Veterans)
Published major coverage of the Spartan Pledge movement, helping bring the pledge to a national audience of disabled veterans.
The Mission Continues
Boone always said a warfighter without a mission is a dead warfighter. The foundation's mission is to ensure that no veteran reaches that point alone. Through the Spartan Pledge, through sharing veteran stories, through connecting warriors to each other and to resources — the work that Boone started with a single conversation continues.
Every pledge taken, every video shared, every dollar donated to move the Spartan Sword to the next event is part of that mission. The numbers on this page represent the scale of the crisis. The pledge represents the response: one veteran reaching out to another, saying “call me first.”