Chuck Kramer serves on the Board of Trustees for Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc. (PHW), bringing a perspective shaped not only by a lifetime of military, professional, and community service, but also by his own experience as a PHW participant, volunteer, and program leader.
Chuck first came to Project Healing Waters in 2019 after retiring from the U.S. Air Force Reserve and navigating the transition from military to civilian life. After learning about PHW through a VA newsletter, he connected with his local program in Pennsylvania and discovered firsthand the restorative power of fly fishing, time outdoors, and-perhaps most
importantly – the camaraderie of being among fellow Veterans.
That experience soon became a commitment to give back. Chuck went on to lead the West Bradford, Pennsylvania program, serve as a PHW Ambassador and trip leader, and assume regional leadership responsibilities in Florida, including service as Deputy Regional Coordinator and Acting Regional Coordinator. Across those roles, he has focused on developing volunteer leaders, mentoring Veterans, and creating the welcoming, safe, and mission-centered community that first drew him to PHW.
Chuck retired from the U.S. Air Force Reserve in 2017 as a Senior Master Sergeant and First Sergeant after 33 years of service, including eight years on active duty. His military career
included deployments and assignments across the Middle East, Europe, Asia, Greece, and the Philippines. During his final nine years in uniform, he served as a First Sergeant across several operational communities, advising commanders and helping Airmen and their families navigate the demands of military service, personal challenges, and career transitions.
Alongside his military service, Chuck built a career spanning more than three decades in technology, communications, critical infrastructure, and project leadership. He currently leads global data center services work at Wesco, managing complex technology solutions and multidisciplinary teams supporting large-scale customers. His career has also included leadership supporting U.S. Army and federal technology programs, data analytics, network engineering, and critical infrastructure.
Service beyond the workplace has been a constant throughout Chuck’s life. He has served his communities as an elected Township Commissioner, Pennsylvania State Constable, school board member, and in other local public-service roles.
For Chuck, Project Healing Waters is deeply personal. He has seen PHW quite literally save the lives of friends, and he credits the organization with helping him through troubling times of his own. What began as finding connection through fly fishing has become a commitment to help lift up other Veterans through the same combination of time on the water, camaraderie, and community. Serving PHW’s Veteran participants, he says, has become “extremely personal” to him.
Away from work and service, Chuck’s greatest connections remain family and the outdoors. He and Teresa, also a Veteran, share a love of fly fishing and the mountains of Colorado. Chuck has five adult children and enjoys spending time with his family biking, boating, flying, camping, traveling, and finding new opportunities to be together outdoors.
As a Trustee, Chuck brings senior military and professional leadership experience, extensive knowledge of PHW at the participant, program, and regional levels, and an authentic understanding of the Veterans and volunteers at the heart of the organization. His perspective helps ensure that as Project Healing Waters grows and evolves, its governance remains closely connected to the people, relationships, and experiences that make its mission possible.