My Why: Eric Hall

Mr. Eric Hall joined the Warriors Heart family in January 2024 as the Chief Operating Officer; where he performs the duties as senior executive overseeing the Executive Directors, and the operations and supporting services at our treatment facility locations, along with the coordination and alignment with Headquarters programs. Prior to this role, Mr. Hall was supporting a government contract leading the risk management program for a Department of Veterans Affairs project. Mr. Hall’s treatment experience includes serving as the Director over Quality and Process Improvement, Risk Management, and Compliance programs at a Behavioral Healthcare Hospital. Before joining the Hospital, Mr. Hall served as the Vice President of Support Services for two non-profits, where he was the Senior Executive who oversaw and implemented critical human resources, operational efficiency, compliance and policy, technology, and accountability process and program segments.

Mr. Hall retired from the Federal Government after 26 years, where his assignments included serving as a Director within a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Component, as well as a Branch Chief within DHS Headquarters. Mr. Hall was also selected as the DHS Program Manager to develop, implement, and promote a multi-Agency Countering Violent Extremism and Active Shooter Program to support the National Strategy on Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism. Immediately prior to DHS, Mr. Hall served in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as a Supervisory Intelligence Analyst and Program Coordinator. During Mr. Hall’s FBI career he was a Strategic Execution Team instructor, earned his Joint Duty Certificate through leading an Office of the Director of National Intelligence multi-Agency domain awareness initiative, and became a certified Intelligence Officer.

Mr. Hall’s career includes proudly serving in the U.S. Military for over ten years. Mr. Hall was a non-commissioned officer (NCO) in the Army as an Infantryman, and later a Military Intelligence Analyst. During Mr. Hall’s Military career he was awarded the National Ground Intelligence Center NCO of the quarter, and later the 2001 NCO of the Year. Mr. Hall also supported forward-deployed forces in Afghanistan in 2002 and deployed to the Middle East for combat operations in 2003.

Eric resides in the San Antonio region with his wonderful wife and their rescue pups; and has an amazing daughter excelling in her own career and adventures. Eric and his wife enjoy international travel, watching Michigan Wolverines sports (GO BLUE!), and range shooting.

My Why 

My “why” can be summarized by a tattoo I have on my arms; with one arm spelling “Perfectly” in crumbling letters, and the other arm spelling “Broken” in perfect cursive. We were taught in the Army that the best Soldiers had to accept and allow to be broken and reshaped in the Military’s image of the ideal troop, and I am confident this is a similar mentality with Law Enforcement and First Responder training as well. Based on my own experiences and observations, I believe that the populations served by Warriors Heart all experience some form of being broken down in order to be trained and able to respond and react to, and recover from, the events and actions which come with the job. This certainly provides the skills and abilities to conduct our duties well, although being “Perfectly Broken” to do a job does not automatically train us to be able to handle the personal, and often internalized, aftermath of these experiences and actions. Although my way of coping was not visible, my internal struggles consumed my thoughts day and night, and negatively affected my personality and ability to interact with others. There are many ways to internalize and cope with the unique experiences; and what is easily, or discretely, recognized or seen is the symptom, but not the root cause. The beauty of each person being their own individual is why it is imperative to recognize that there is no one way to handle life’s challenges, especially for those who are part of or witness uncommon situations. Those who request or require assistance to identify the root cause and learn the tools to eliminate or reduce the symptoms are never to be judged – but praised for their courage. Perfectly Broken comes with a price for all of us, and being part of Warriors Heart where we understand and welcome those heroes who desire assistance to be the best version of themselves affords me the opportunity to help others in a way that I wished was available and culturally accepted many years ago for myself, and my brothers and sisters in arms.