Vision Statement:

“A thriving veteran population that contributes to the security, economic competitiveness, and overall social connectedness and well-being of the United States”

Today, there is much support for veterans among the American public. Yet, American society is disconnected from the sacrifices made by the people and families who have worn a uniform in our nation’s defense. With an all-volunteer force, the American public asks a small portion of the population to voluntarily shoulder the burden of keeping the U.S. safe and secure. In order for this model to survive, serving those who have served cannot fall to the federal government alone, but American society as well.

The National Veterans Policy Framework seeks to inform and catalyze a bipartisan public movement towards improving outcomes for America’s military veterans and their families. To do so is to meet a critical vision for the United States.

Bringing about such a vision requires significant investment of political, social and economic resources in this nation’s military-connected community on behalf of the American people, and by extension, its government. A National Veterans Policy Framework that introduces key issues faced by veterans and military families can inform and energize both government and its citizens in a new way. Veterans also have agency and responsibility in this effort. Good public policy enables opportunity for both sides to be engaged, breaking down the divide that exists between civilian and military communities.

It is critical that policymakers and the public alike understand and mobilize behind a core set of foundational principles that underpin the effort to better serve veterans and their families. These principles are the values that ought to guide all of American society, unified in its effort, towards an envisioned end state where veterans are more empowered to thrive, and America is more secure.

The Imperatives

The imperatives for better serving our veterans and their families are plentiful and urgent. Today, the U.S. military is operating in 40% of the world’s countries.2 We are expansively deploying our military in the name of our nation’s defense, and yet the sustainability of the all-volunteer force has never been more at risk.

In 2018, the Army missed its recruiting goal for the first time since 2005.3 The military is stretched thin, and yet the cost of war since 2001 reached nearly $6 trillion dollars and future costs expect to reach $15 trillion.4 Nearly 7,000 US soldiers have died in these efforts, bearing significant social and human costs as well.5 In other words, the United States is disengaged and disconnected from significant looming financial and security challenges.

All this, and still more veterans have died from suicide than from combat in either Iraq or Afghanistan.6,7 In the past ten years, the number of military veterans who have taken their own lives totals over 60,000. That’s a suicide every 80-minutes, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

We must begin by better serving our veterans today. The post-service experiences of many of our veterans and military families should be better. These guiding principles should be the foundation of good public policy aimed to make it so.

“If it is our hope that not every young person is called to a draft If it is our hope that we continue to be safe and secure without bankrupting our nation If it is our hope that those who have served have an equal chance at a happy and healthy post-service life”