A New Mission for Retired Green Berets

An episode of Green Beret Chronicles on YouTube hosted by Jay Dorleus featuring Dan Simmons validated the idea of considering: Special Operations personnel—and Green Berets in particular—may be uniquely suited to take a leading role in addressing the issues adversely affecting young service members.

Dan described how, while serving, he led a purpose-filled life. He had a mission. He solved problems. He led people. He accomplished things that mattered.

Then he left the military.

The direct opposite occurred. Without a mission, a sense of purpose, or meaningful problems to solve, he began to feel useless. That loss of purpose ultimately brought him to the point of contemplating suicide.

Dan could solve problems for others. But he could not solve his own.

The answer to solving his problems had been rooted in helping others solve theirs.

That is where Green Berets—and what they learn during their careers—could have an important role in the concept of My American Home.

Consider the parallels:

GREEN BERET: Learn a foreign language so you can communicate directly with the people you are helping.

MY AMERICAN HOME: You are already well versed in the language of the military to talk to the troops you are trying to help.

GREEN BERET: Train, equip, and advise partner military forces so they can protect themselves against threats.

MY AMERICAN HOME: Train, equip, and advise U.S. military personnel so they can protect themselves and their families against financial threats.

GREEN BERET: Conduct surveillance and reconnaissance in hostile environments to identify threats before they become more dangerous.

MY AMERICAN HOME: Maintain surveillance of an increasingly sophisticated financial environment and identify predatory practices designed to take advantage of service members before those threats cause lasting damage.

The mission is different.

The skills are not.

Green Berets are trained to enter difficult environments, understand the people operating within them, identify threats, solve problems, develop solutions, and teach others how to become more capable and self-reliant

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Those same skills can be applied to a problem much closer to home.

Some may argue that the military is already responsible for solving the financial problems confronting its personnel. After decades of programs, training, briefings, contractors, and taxpayer-funded initiatives, however, the results demand that we ask a different question:

Are we actually solving the problem, or are we simply dealing with its symptoms?

If, according to a 2022 DoD Report, roughly 24% of young service members and their families are experiencing food insecurity, something isn't working

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More programs aren't necessarily the answer.

More briefings aren't necessarily the answer.

More money thrown at the problem isn't necessarily the answer.

Perhaps what is missing is a different approach—and people with the mindset, experience, credibility, and determination to pursue it.

That is the opportunity I see for My American Home.

Give veterans another mission.

Give them a problem worthy of solving.

Let them use what the military taught them—not to fight an enemy overseas, but to help the next generation of service members defeat the financial threats waiting for them at home.

It’s time to throw some chlorine into the gene pool.