---
title: "The 14.42 Points: What Veterans Day Looks Like in Our Data"
url: https://warriorwod.org/veterans-day-ptsd-data-14-42-points/
date: 2026-11-11T13:38:11+00:00
modified: 2026-11-11T13:38:11+00:00
lang: en_US
---

# The 14.42 Points: What Veterans Day Looks Like in Our Data

Today is Veterans Day.

We are going to tell you what a number means.

## 14.42 points.

That is the average reduction in PCL-5 scores for veterans who complete the WarriorWOD program.

The PCL-5 is the standard clinical instrument for measuring PTSD severity. A reduction of 10 to 20 points is considered clinically meaningful. Veterans who completed our program averaged 14.42.

### The data

- Pre-program PCL-5 average: 43.37
- Post-program PCL-5 average: 28.95
- Mean reduction: 14.42 points
- Statistical significance: p \< .001
- Effect size: Cohen's d = 1.33
- Sample: 21 matched pairs

A Cohen's d of 1.33 is a large effect. Most PTSD interventions in the clinical literature report effect sizes between 0.5 and 1.0. This study reached 1.33.

This was not self-reported or internally measured. The study was independently verified at the College of Charleston.

### 265 veterans have completed the program.

Nine of those veterans came in with a documented history of suicidal ideation.

All nine are still alive.

### What Veterans Day looks like here

It looks like a PCL-5 score dropping from 43 to 29. It looks like a veteran who showed up with suicidal ideation and is still here a year later. It looks like 265 people who did the work and came out the other side.

That is what this day means to us.

If you are a journalist, researcher, or policy organization looking for outcome data on veteran PTSD recovery: the full methodology, sample characteristics, and results are available below.

[View the full research data and methodology](https://warriorwod.org/veteran-ptsd-recovery-program-research/)

Phil Palmer
Founder, WarriorWOD