As of June 1, 2015, WWP served 71,866 registered alumni and 11,494 registered members. The organization has partnered with several other charities, including the American Red Cross, Resounding Joy, a music therapy group in California, and Operation Homefront. WWP has also provided a year-long Track program, which helps veterans transition to college and the workplace.
Wounded Warrior Project was founded in 2003 in Roanoke, Virginia, by John Melia. Melia had been severely wounded in a helicopter crash while serving in Somalia in 1992. Melia assembled backpacks distributed to injured veterans at the former Bethesda Naval Hospital (Walter Reed National Military Medical Center) and Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Wounded Warrior Project initially operated as a division of the United Spinal Association of New York, which adopted WWP as a program in November 2003. The WWP continued to support injured service members by providing them with free WWP Backpacks filled with comfort items
In September 2005, The United Spinal Association granted $2.7 million to WWP to "develop into a stand-alone charity with its own identity and programs," with the intent to expand its services from providing immediate comfort items to providing longer-term support for returning wounded veterans via compensation, education, health care, insurance, housing, employment, etc.
The WWP Backpacks program remains a central activity of WWP, evidenced by the more than 65,000 backpacks the organization had distributed as of early 2018, in support of transitioning U.S. military veterans.
CEO Steven Nardizzi and COO Al Giordano were fired from Wounded Warrior Project after it was revealed in 2016 that they spent massive amounts of the nonprofit's money on lavish company retreats and personal enrichment for themselves. Several former employees alleged that they were fired because they raised concerns over the mismanagement.
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