No Limits
A feather tattoo adorns the inner right arm of Alana Bethune. Located between her wrist and elbow, it reminds her that she’s good enough and has the ability to figuratively take flight, to soar.
Alana is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Combat Recovery Foundation (CRF), which serves military veterans and is designed to prevent suicides and address trauma. (Go to combatrecoveryfoundation.org to find out more.)
Her tattoo idea came at a Limitless Conference (a generic title for various conferences focused on a variety of topics). Heading into that conference, her limiting mindset was “I’m never good enough.” Event participants were encouraged to write an affirmation statement.
She wrote. “The world doesn’t need another perfect person performing worthiness. It needs someone to be unapologetically flawed, and authentically present. My courage to be real is my power to change everything.”
That is a message she hopes rings loud and clear to CRF participants. Alana and her CRF compadres ooze authenticity, recognize the challenges of veterans, build a sense of community. “CRF takes unique approaches to suicide prevention,” she says. “You have to instill purpose in people’s lives. Give them a sense of belonging and community to hang onto. Otherwise, you’re on that slippery slope to isolation. You really can’t do this life alone.”
CRF is a work in progress, designed by and for veterans, with, well, limitless possibilities on how leaders and participants meet their mission. Oh yeah, and CRF folks are flawed, courageous and real.
Like the people she serves, Alana is a veteran, third-generation Navy. “During boot camp and beyond I learned to work through hard things,” she says. Alana’s Navy rating was for CTM cryptologic technician. “I scanned naval networks for vulnerabilities, looked for hacks and provided mitigation reports to secure the network.” She adds, “I’m 19 or 20, potentially saving lives through mitigation of hacks.” Heady role for a young person barely out of high school. She graduated with honors in the cryptologic training A-School as part of her varied and interesting career in the Navy
One key learning from those three years was that “women have unique – and sometimes awful – experiences in the military and I want them to know we’re here for them,” Alana says. Even though CRF’s participants are mainly men, CRF does serve women and seeks to reach more of them in the future. “It’s OK to talk about those bad experiences. I get it.”
Alana’s first post-military job was at Best Buy in Pensacola. To move from a job with national-security implications to retail didn’t cut it. “The military created a high level of ambition I didn’t want to go untapped.”
Journey to CRF
She earned her real-estate license and worked for the Veteran Association for Real Estate Professionals, which teaches Realtors how to better advocate for veterans. Alana had been burned herself with a poor lending agreement for a home purchase.
In 2024 she met her neighbors James and Mindy Daigle, publishers of Veterans Life Magazine, headquartered in Loveland. They invited Alana to hear CRF Founder and Chief Executive Officer Marshall Spring read some of his writings about the organization, the people it serves, and his own military experiences. “I was surprised at the power of his writing.” That March she learned more about the CRF mission and the next month she started a women’s group. That led to more CRF tasks, which turned into a full-time position as CRF’s COO this past April.
As CRF grows, the need for more attention to administrative details skyrockets. That’s where Alana comes in … big time. Among other things, she handles insurance, accounting, staff management, standard operating procedures, and event planning. In addition, she tracks participant involvement and improvement.
Marshall says, “We are scaling (growing) fast. Alana’s administrative strength keeps us accountable, compliant and professional – essentials for credibility with partners and funders. Her work ensures our impact lasts.” But she brings much more to CRF than keeping track of the thousands of details. Marshall adds, “She leads by example and creates a space where women feel welcomed and valued, which is key for CRF’s growth and inclusivity. She really is the right person at the right time for CRF.”
Alana’s effort and accomplishments gives Marshall more time to focus on the organization’s big picture. Speaking of big picture, Alana says the possibilities are, indeed, limitless. “We have many new and fun things we want to do as an organization. For example, we recently started a fishing group and are excited to create a survival-skills program soon.” Those ideas came from participants and volunteers. More than 1,000 veterans have participated in various CRF events and programs and Alana foresees that number growing.
“There’s so much room for expansion, but we need our communities to step up more than ever,” she says. That means corporations and individuals hire vets, donate to the organization, and spread the word. Alana glances at her tattoo.
If that community support grows, CRF soars.