WALTHAM, Mass., May 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) is observing National Military Appreciation Month with the launch of Hashtags4Heroes, a campaign to raise awareness and advocacy for the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) and the servicemen and women it supports.

Powered by Raytheon, HashTags4Heroes uses a Twitter application to salute our men and women in uniform, veterans and their families, and to enlist public support for the needs of injured service members. By accessing the app, #HT4H, Twitter users invoke a special automated message that is added to the end of their individual tweets to pay tribute to our wounded warriors -- and points Twitter followers to the Hashtags4Heroes or the WWP website. The program runs through May 31.

This innovative campaign takes advantage of what is, in effect, surplus tweet capacity. Of the total 140 characters that Twitter users are allotted for every tweet, many characters often go unused (according to one estimate, the most common tweet length is about 28 characters). The campaign enables users to download a special Twitter platform application to tweet from their computers or mobile devices and easily "donate" their unused Twitter characters in support of WWP. The larger the surplus of characters, the longer the tailored message. The application is supported on Internet Explorer®, Google Chrome™, Firefox®, iPhone®, iPad®, Android™ and BlackBerry®.   

To participate in the program, users need only visit www.hashtags4heroes.com and download the Hashtags4Heroes browser plug-in or mobile application. They will then be invited to contribute their unused Twitter characters on behalf of our wounded warriors. The special message will be automatically added to one's tweet.

The campaign's goal is to achieve 30,000 characters for Hashtags4Heroes by the end of May. The application tracks the number of characters donated by the individual user and by all users in the aggregate.

"Hashtags4Heroes uses the power of social media to raise awareness for the Wounded Warrior Project and its efforts on behalf of armed services veterans," said Pam Wickham, Raytheon vice president of Corporate Affairs and Communications. "Although we can never thank our servicemen and women enough for all they do to defend our nation, this month we collectively salute them and honor all their contributions."

A major supporter of the Wounded Warrior Project, Raytheon in November 2010 announced a five-year, $2.5 million grant to support WWP programs. The grant helps support the organization's education programs, information technology training and employment assistance services, including the Transition Training Academy (TTA) and Warriors to Work programs. As of November 2011, the TTA program expanded the number of its training centers from four centers in three states to eight centers in seven states, added an "Intro to Computer Security" course to the available certification programs, and graduated 539 students from its programs. Raytheon also engages its employees in support of WWP, including the addition of WWP to Raytheon's Fund in Support of Our Troops.

About Raytheon
Raytheon Company, with 2011 sales of $25 billion and 71,000 employees worldwide, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 90 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as a broad range of mission support services. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Mass. For more about Raytheon, visit us at www.raytheon.com and follow us on Twitter at @raytheon.

Media Contacts

Raytheon Company
Kristyn Lao
781.522.5126
corporatepr@raytheon.com

InkHouse
Scott Montminy
781.966.4100
raytheonpr@inkhouse.net

SOURCE Raytheon Company