Born and raised in Vassar, Michigan, United States Army Staff Sergeant (Ret.) Travis Mills of the 82nd Airborne is a recalibrated veteran, motivational speaker, actor, author and an advocate for veterans and amputees. In addition to being the founder of the Travis Mills Foundation, Travis also serves as the President of the Board of Directors.
Travis has achieved his vision for the Foundation by bringing together a talented array of experts who masterfully accomplish the Foundation’s mission. Per Travis’s lead, the team at the Foundation are not only respected colleagues, they are family.
Born and raised in Vassar, Michigan, United States Army Staff Sergeant (Ret.) Travis Mills of the 82nd Airborne is a recalibrated veteran, motivational speaker, actor, author and an advocate for veterans and amputees. He’s not only the founder of the Travis Mills Foundation, but he’s also president of the Board of Directors and CEO.
Travis has achieved his vision for the Foundation by bringing together a talented array of experts who masterfully accomplish the Foundation’s mission. Per Travis’s lead, the team at the Foundation are not only respected colleagues, they are family.
Travis’s Story
On April 10, 2012, Travis was critically injured by an improvised explosive device (IED) during a routine patrol on his third tour of duty in Afghanistan. The explosion blew off portions of all four of his limbs and he is one of only five quadruple amputees from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to survive.
While recovering at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, family was a crucial component to Travis’s healing. His wife, Kelsey, their daughter, Chloe, along with both their families, spent 19 months at Walter Reed, recovering alongside other veterans and their families.
Travis maintained his lifelong mantra of: “Never Give Up. Never Quit,” and credits Kelsey and Chloe (then 6 months old) as the driving force behind his positivity and persistence to overcome the challenges of his new normal.
After his recovery, Travis attended an adaptive sports camp in Colorado and realized the need for a such a place where a veteran and their entire family could relax, reconnect and find strength. Born out of this idea, Travis and Kelsey founded the Travis Mills Foundation Veterans Retreat.
The Mills Family lives near the retreat and in 2017, welcomed their second child, Dax, who is named after the two medics who saved Travis’s life – Daniel and Alexander.
Travis continues to have an outstandingly positive outlook on life and works to offer more adaptive opportunities for recalibrated veterans and their families.
Travis’s New York Times bestselling memoir, “Tough as They Come,” is available online and in bookstores and he’s working on his second book.
In September 2013, Travis and his wife Kelsey founded the Travis Mills Foundation, a nonprofit organization, formed to benefit and assist post-911 veterans who have been injured in active duty or as a result of their service to our nation. The veteran and their families receive an all-inclusive, all-expenses-paid, barrier-free experience in Maine where they participate in adaptive activities, bond with other veteran families, and enjoy much-needed rest and relaxation in Maine’s great outdoors.