It's been 30 years since Christina and Scott Sterling met on Martha's Vineyard. He has just finished Ranger School - a grueling experience by anyone's standards. 

Scott’s vision for the future captured Christina’s imagination; he had his sights set on bigger things and wanted to take full advantage of every opportunity the Army had to offer.

Christina and Scott married soon after. Scott went on to become a member of the 75th Ranger Regiment and received his Combat Diver Qualifications before completing Delta Force Selection and Operator Training Course (OTC) in preparation for A Squadron assignment.

Following his service, Scott had a successful civilian career developing world-class equipment for the next generation of soldiers serving in the military. After a diagnosis of colorectal cancer, Scott became passionate about GI cancer screening for his family and special operations community.

"Scott’s story is that of a fighter - it’s how he got where he got in the military, it’s why he excelled, and it’s what helped him through his two and a half years of stage four cancer."

- Christina Sterling

Christina founded the Sterling Promise Foundation after Scott passed away as a way to continue his legacy. She wanted to ensure that those who serve our country in the most extraordinary ways are able to live long, healthy, fulfilling lives following their careers in the US Army Special Operations.

Years of high-intensity training and deployment can take a toll on emotional, mental and physical health so the foundation helps veterans and their families by augmenting existing medical and financial benefits, covering the gaps that might exist between expenses and benefits.

Our first objective is to ensure that Special Operations veterans are adequately screened for serious medical conditions early in their retirement.

After Scott passed, Christina went through his paperwork, awards, and performance reviews. “While none of it surprised me, a lot of it moved me because in areas where they could have put very general comments about him, they took the time to handwrite notes that he was a natural leader, that they had never seen anyone like him,” Christina recounted.