The Way We See It
“This We’ll Defend”, “Semper Fidelis”, “Aim High…Fly-Fight-Win”: these mottos put in words our service members commitment to support our country in good times and bad, in any part of the world, and in the most extreme circumstances, without regard to personal safety or survival. Those lofty ideals gloss over what happens to our best and brightest after they have served. Our soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen continue to be the tip of the spear, but in homelessness, poverty, PTSD, and substance abuse. They can conduct dozens of missions perfectly throughout their time in the service but can fall flat on their back within weeks of discharge because no one briefed them on their next mission.
Outreach
Current estimates place the veteran population in the US at 16.2 million. The Department of Veterans affairs has approximately nine million veterans registered. With this data we arrive at a startling figure of Forty-four percent of our veterans being unregistered. What does that mean? 7.2 million veterans are not taking advantage of valuable, life changing support that they earned while serving our nation. Consider that there are over 7.5 million veterans from the Gulf War and Post 9/11 eras, having served in our countries longest wars and marshalled for countless deployments across the globe. Forty-four percent, over 3.3 million, are unregistered. Veterans from those eras combined are thirty-three percent likely to have a service-related disability. That means there are potentially over a million unregistered disabled veterans from those eras alone. This is why we need continued outreach and education to ensure that every veteran receives the care and assistance that they have earned.
Early Enrollment
Too many veterans that do register with the VA wait until later in life or after avoidable hardships have already developed, homelessness, mental illness, substance abuse, isolation, chronic or terminal disease. They see the VA as a last resort when everything else has failed, instead of the facilitator of a productive life after service that it is supposed to be. Veterans are daunted by the complicated registration system or have difficulty navigating the Identity Verification process. Others are simply unaware of the benefits available to them, and still others are unjustly denied these benefits by the very institutions that they served in. It is important that veterans enroll with the VA as early as possible and begin to take advantage of the enriching and supportive programs available to them.
Early enrollment ensures timely access to VA health care services. Regular check-ups, preventive care, and prompt treatment can prevent costly, debilitative, or deadly health complications down the road. In addition to traditional medical care, the VA offers programs in fitness, nutrition, and healthy living. The VA offers mental health consultation and treatment for all mental health conditions in addition to combat trauma induced conditions. Taking advantage of any of these benefits as early as possible increases the chance of leading a healthy post military life or having a successful recovery.
In addition to the medical and health and wellness programs available, the VA offers a wide array of support in a veteran’s post military professional life. Veterans pursuing education or vocational training benefit from the GI Bill and other educational programs. Applying early facilitates a smoother transition to civilian life and helps veterans achieve their educational goals promptly.
Engage On Day One
We need to boost VA enrollment among day one veterans to make sure they fully utilize their benefits, and that our veterans have the best chance possible for a healthy, fulfilling, bountiful life after the military. That is the goal of Back in the World. To get our veterans enrolled, to give them access to healthcare, counseling, educational and career advancement opportunities, financial security and to show recognition of their service and sacrifice to our nation.
We will do this with boots on the ground to reach our veterans on day one of their new civilian life. We want to immediately engage them with tools and messaging that meets them where they are and makes them aware of what is available to them. This starts at their last duty station on the day they exit service. Every day that goes by is another chance for our veterans to fall through the cracks.
Bridge The Digital Divide
In the age of the Millennial veteran and soon the Gen Z veteran, we have the most tech savvy and plugged in group of veterans yet. Back in the World will adapt our comms to reach this generation of veterans in the context that they are most likely to engage with. Using current and next generation AI, we will build a platform to leverage the latest advances in natural language processing, computer vision, and machine learning to provide a seamless and intuitive user experience for our veterans to use to register with the VA, find any answer, form or facility, connect with one of our brilliant Veteran Service Organization partners from a simple text or voice prompt.