Governor's Challenge Training Portal

Heidi Squier Kraft received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the UC San Diego/SDSU Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology in 1996. She joined the Navy during her internship at Duke University Medical Center and went on to serve as both a flight and clinical psychologist. Her active duty assignments included the Naval Safety Center, the Naval Health Research Center and Naval Hospital Jacksonville, FL. While on flight status, she flew in nearly every aircraft in the Navy and Marine Corps inventory, including more than 100 hours in the F/A-18 Hornet, primarily with Marine Corps squadrons. In February 2004, she deployed to western Iraq for seven months with a Marine Corps surgical company, when her boy and girl twins were 15-months-old. Rule Number Two is a memoir of that experience. Dr. Kraft left active duty in 2005, after nine years in the Navy. She currently serves as Chief Clinical Officer at PsychArmor Institute, a national non-profit that provides free online education for those who live with, care for, and work with military Veterans. She is frequently invited to speak at conferences and panels on combat stress, stigma and caring for the caregiver. She is a lecturer at San Diego State University, where she teaches Stress, Trauma and the Psychological Experience of Combat, Health Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, and Infant and Child Development. Dr. Kraft lives in San Diego with her husband Mike, a former Marine Harrier pilot. Her twins Brian and Meg, who have no memory of their mother’s time in Iraq, are college freshmen now.

Melissa Comeau is honored to serve as the Director of the American Red Cross Military and Veteran Caregiver Network. Her book Sleeping with the War was published in 2014 and has brought the family and caregiver perspective to life after combat. Melissa served as a Fellow for the Elizabeth Dole Foundation. She has a long history of providing peer support to military families and is supporting efforts at the Military Family Advisory Network, Psych Armor, and the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention. Melissa was appointed to the Federal Advisory Committee for Veterans’ Family, Caregivers and Survivors at the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. She is a recognized advocate for the military and veteran community with a career supported by an MSM in Information Technology and Project Management. Melissa is currently contributing to research with Facebook and Harvard Brigham Labs. Her education and background have made her a valuable resource and a pioneer in the development of technology to support veterans and caregivers. Melissa is invested in the long-term care of our Nation’s heroes as well as their families, children, caregivers and survivors. She is also the spouse and caregiver of a combat wounded United States Marine.