The U.S. military plays a vital role in foreign policy and our nation’s interactions abroad. How have two decades of war and shifting global threats influenced Americans’ perception of their military? Americans now prioritize national security and national interests as their top foreign policy priority, ranking it higher than overseas outreach and development. While polling indicates that the American public maintains broad faith in the United States’ military strength, doubts remain regarding the nation’s overall global image and power. Further, over half of Americans report being more likely to vote for political candidates who possess past military experience.

This Policy Circle Brief addresses the following questions: How much of our federal tax dollars are spent on defense, and what does this funding cover? How are the armed forces structured? What are the issues and challenges facing military personnel and their families, veterans, and the agencies charged with funding and operating these vital institutions?

WHY IT MATTERS

There are more than 1.3 million active-duty service members stationed at more than 420 domestic installations and approximately 750 bases abroad.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Department of Defense (DOD), currently referred to as the Department of War, oversees the armed forces to ensure the nation’s security. In recent years, this mission has expanded to include high-tech initiatives like the Replicator program, which is designed to accelerate the fielding of thousands of all-domain, attritable autonomous systems (ADA2 systems) to counter the military mass of the People’s Republic of China. Supported by at least $7.7 billion in funding from the 2025 “One, Big Beautiful Bill Act,” the initiative has evolved into a multi-year effort focused on the short-term scaling of “precise mass” platforms through 2029.

Central to this defensive mandate is the Golden Dome for America initiative, a $12.8 billion missile defense shield designed to protect the U.S. homeland from space-based and atmospheric threats. Beyond these technology-driven defenses, DOD missions continue to include global efforts such as Operation Prosperity Guardian, a coalition protecting international commerce in the Red Sea, as well as humanitarian aid and disaster response.

THE MILITARY STRUCTURE

The U.S. military is under the control of civilian leaders of the federal government. Authority mostly lies in the executive branch, with the president as Commander in Chief, with Congress also shaping the armed forces through the budget process. The DOD is headquartered in the Pentagon, serving as the center for the country’s armed forces.

The Secretary of Defense, currently called the Secretary of War, serves as the first policy advisor to the president on the military. The Secretary manages the DOD through staff support, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and direction from both the president and Congress. The Joint Chiefs of Staff, made up of the highest-ranking military officers from each branch, are responsible for ensuring the readiness of the armed forces and serve as military advisors, though they have no executive authority to command combat forces.

Today, the DOD includes the following branches:

• Army: The military’s land force. Soldiers are trained primarily for land-based offensives, missions, and operations. Their active-duty strength is approximately 454,000.
• Navy: As the maritime force in the military, this branch is in charge of operations and naval missions. This branch has about 346,000 active-duty personnel.
• Marine Corps: Provides support through land, combat, sea-based, and air-ground operations, with about 170,000 active-duty personnel. Their purpose is to bridge naval and land missions.
• Air Force: Executes aerial missions and operations. This branch has approximately 320,000 on active-duty.
• Space Force: Responsible for space operations, with about 10,000 personnel on active-duty. Their mission is to protect the United States, which differs from other agencies focused on exploration and research.
• National Guard: Accessible to states and territories that may need them, the National Guard is a domestic force rather than foreign, like the rest of the military. In addition to their state affiliation, they also act as reserves for their branch of the military. The active-duty strength consists of about 325,000 Army National Guard and 108,000 Air National Guard members.

The Coast Guard is considered a branch of the armed forces, a law enforcement agency, a regulatory agency, a member of the intelligence community, and a first responder. The Coast Guard normally operates under the Department of Homeland Security, but is under direction by the Department of the Navy during wartime. It maintains border security at U.S. ports and waterways, and protects the U.S. from maritime threats along the coastline.

The military also employs a significant civilian workforce of at least 740,000 full-time equivalents for FY 2026.

Each military branch consists of two components:

• Active Component: Full-time service members mentioned above. They are stationed globally, totaling over 1.3 million personnel.
• Reserve Component: Supplements the active component when they are needed. Reservists train part-time while leading civilian careers and lives. In 2025, there were over 720,000 reservists. All branches except the Space Force have a reserve force.

The DOD is organized into eleven Unified Combatant Commands to execute specific geographic or functional missions. For example, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has a defined geographic area of responsibility, while U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) combats terrorism worldwide. Supporting these structures are various agencies like the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which oversees research and development. Other support systems include the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the National Security Agency (NSA).

National defense spending is estimated to account for approximately 15% of the total U.S. federal budget in FY 2026. For the same year, the total national defense budget request amounts to $961.6 billion, a 13.4% increase over the previous year. This level of spending makes national defense the fourth-largest expenditure in the federal budget, trailing major health care programs such as Medicare and Medicaid (25.6%), Social Security (22.4%), and net interest on the national debt (13.9%).

The majority of this funding is provided through the annual Department of Defense Appropriations Act. This act funds the vast majority of DOD activities, including the military departments (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force), the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and various defense agencies. Within the DOD, these funds cover the following major expense categories:

• Military Personnel: Including pay for a maximum size (end-strength) of approximately 1.3 million active-duty members and the 3.8% pay raise proposed for 2026.
• Operations and Maintenance (O&M): This includes training, planning, and maintaining equipment, as well as nearly $160 billion specifically targeted for force readiness.
• Procurement: Funding for the purchase of weapons and systems, such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, Virginia-class submarines, and the new B-21 Raider bomber.
• Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E): Investing in future capabilities, including autonomous systems, hypersonic weapons, and the “Golden Dome” next-generation missile defense shield.
• Healthcare: Funding for the Defense Health Program, which serves approximately 9.5 million beneficiaries. This is separate from the Department of Veterans Affairs and certain programs automatically funded by mandatory accounts.

National defense spending also includes defense-related activities performed by other agencies. This includes atomic energy defense activities, primarily carried out by the Department of Energy, and other defense-related tasks such as Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) counterintelligence activities.

Funding for military construction and family housing remains separate from the Defense Appropriations Act, provided instead through the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.

Reforms in the 1970s created a distinct intelligence budget to improve oversight and accountability. Intelligence funding is divided into the National Intelligence Program (NIP), which supports strategic priorities and fully funds agencies like the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), and the Military Intelligence Program (MIP), which supports tactical military operations. For FY 2026, total requested intelligence funding is $115.5 billion, including $81.9 billion for the NIP and $33.6 billion for the MIP.

PERSONNEL

Enlistment into the active-duty military requires a minimum age of 17. While the U.S. has maintained an all-volunteer force since 1973, men aged 18–25 are required to register with the Selective Service in the event of a draft.

As of early 2026, the active-duty force totals approximately 1.3 million personnel. Force strength is distributed as follows:

• Army: 453,543
• Navy: 344,037
• Air Force: 330,110
• Marine Corps: 170,169
• Coast Guard: 43,156
• Space Force: 10,205

Women now account for 17.9% of the active-duty force, a steady increase in representation over the last two decades. Approximately 32.5% of service members identify with racial minority groups, with the highest representation found in the Navy (38%) and the Army (34%).

The reserve component consists of approximately 765,000 personnel who provide immediate strategic depth. This total includes:

• 434,300 National Guard members
  • 328,000 Army
  • 106,300 Air Force
•  330,600 dedicated Reservists
  • Army: 172,000
  • Navy: 57,500
  • Marine Corps: 33,600
  • Air Force: 67,500

The military follows a rigid hierarchy in which officers, less than a fifth of the workforce, rank above enlisted personnel, who make up over 80% of the workforce. This structure is woven into the U.S. military, its approximately 750 foreign military bases, and its more than 420 domestic installations.

Benefits offered to the military can encourage young people to enlist. According to the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service, “high school students increasingly view military service as incompatible with postsecondary education and often choose to attend college or vocational school in lieu of joining the military, even when they are interested in serving.” Benefits, as well as increased opportunities for youths to explore military service opportunities – such as Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC), which allows individuals to simultaneously attend college and train to be an Army officer – can strengthen recruiting.

VETERANS

Approximately 6.1% of Americans are veterans of the U.S. military. This number has been steadily declining in recent decades. Between 2010 and 2023, the total number of living veterans fell by more than 5.9 million, a decrease of over 25%. The shrinking community is a reflection of an active-duty force that is significantly smaller than in previous generations, having declined 64% from its peak in 1968. The lack of drafts and true wartime operations, like those during World War II, is also contributing to the decline.

The veteran population is also aging significantly. Nearly half of all veterans aged 65 or older and more than a quarter are 75 or older. While the total number is shrinking, veterans are becoming more diverse. Women now make up 10.9% of the veteran population and are projected to reach 18% by 2040.

To learn more about veterans, see our Veterans Policy Circle Brief.

FEDERAL

The federal government has a constitutional responsibility to protect U.S. citizens. Specifically, the president and Congress authority over the armed forces. Under Article 4, section 4, the Constitution states: “the United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion”.

World War I and II placed demands on the U.S. defense systems that the president and executive branch  structure could not handle well. This culminated in the National Security Act of 1947, which restructured the national security system to coordinate military, intelligence, and civilian efforts.

KEYSTONE LEGISLATION

CONGRESS

Article I, Section 8, Clause 12 of the U.S. Constitution states, “The Congress shall have power … to raise and support Armies … make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces … for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Unions, suppress insurrections and repel invasions.”

Congress exercises its authority over the military by:

• Authorizing and appropriating funds for the military;
• Providing advice and consent on the principal appointees nominated by the president; and
• Declaring war.

Each year, Congress considers appropriations measures for national defense and homeland security through legislation, including the National Defense Authorization Act. The annual “Department of Defense Appropriations Act primarily provides funding for most activities of the Department of Defense (DOD), including the Departments of the Army, Navy (including Marine Corps), and Air Force (including Space Force); Office of the Secretary of Defense; and Defense Agencies.”

The House and Senate Committees on Appropriations exercise jurisdiction over annual appropriations measures. Specifically, in regard to national defense, the following subcommittees are involved:

• The House and Senate Subcommittees on Defense;
• The House and Senate Subcommittees on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies;
• The House and Senate Subcommittees on Energy and Water Development.

Find out if any of your congressional representatives sit on any of the subcommittees that oversee the armed forces here.

THE PRESIDENT

Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution states, “The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States…” The purpose of this clause is to vest military power in the hands of a civilian leader, rather than a military leader.

As commander in chief, the president exercises authority over the military in the following ways:

• Selecting appointees and senior officers, and approving military promotions;
• Managing the federal budget process; and
• Formulating national security policy.

The National Security Council (NSC) is the president’s “principal forum for national security and foreign policy decision making,” and includes the Secretary of Defense. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Director of National Intelligence advise the NSC.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff is an advisory body made of the highest-ranking military officers. It includes leaders from each branch of the armed forces and National Guard, along with a Chairman and Vice Chairman. They do not directly command troops.

Each chief is nominated by the president, confirmed by the Senate, and typically serves four-year terms. Those selected have extensive military experience, often including leadership roles that involve coordinating across multiple branches of the armed forces. The Chairman is chosen from among senior leaders who have already held significant command or service positions.

CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT

The Commander in Chief Clause is not without controversy, as it is not clear “how much authority the Clause gives the president beyond operations approved by Congress.” Presidents have claimed authority over a wide range of military actions, including deploying troops without congressional authorization. For example, President Harry Truman sent troops to Korea without a congressional declaration of war; President Dwight Eisenhower relied on covert CIA operations; President John F. Kennedy was the primary decision maker regarding Cuba; and President Richard Nixon’s decision to bomb Cambodia during the conflict in Vietnam prompted Arthur Schlesinger’s description of  “the imperial presidency.” Recent examples include President Trump’s capture of Nicolás Maduro, then-president of Venezuela, and the ongoing conflict in Iran.

To scale back presidential power, Congress attempted to define when and how a president could deploy troops in the 1973 War Powers Resolution. The Resolution “provides that the president must consult with Congress when introducing U.S. forces into ‘hostilities.’” However, many argue the main issue with the War Powers Resolution was that Congress did not define the scope of “hostilities,” which has allowed presidents to interpret it to mean anything short of all-out ground invasion. For more on the balance between Congress and the president when it comes to controlling the Armed Forces, see our Executive Branch Policy Circle Brief.

STATE

The military operates under the executive branch as a federal government agency under the DOD, but the National Guard is primarily state-based. When activated for a federal mission, it is the Army’s reserve component; when not activated, it is a state-based force under the control of the state’s governor. There are 54 separate National Guard organizations: one for each of the 50 states and one each for Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia. While the National Guard for Washington, D.C., is exclusively a federal organization that operates under federal control, the other 53 are state or territorial organizations.

Across the 50 states, Guam, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C., there are more than 420 military installations. These bases sustain the presence of U.S. forces at home and are used to train and deploy troops, maintain weapons systems, care for wounded service members, and support military service members and their families through housing, health care, childcare, and education.

See state resources for military members and families here.

LOCAL

Active-duty service members and their families live on or near military bases. Military bases have their own grocery stores, shopping centers, food courts and restaurants, dry cleaners, barber shops and hair salons, daycare centers, schools, and other daily amenities that make them an integral part of the local military community.

Sometimes, this results in military bases being “relatively isolated economic entities, purchasing base needs outside the community and spending income at the base rather than in the local community.” Even so, bases can “provide an economic anchor to local communities,” particularly in rural areas.

Across the country, military bases employ hundreds of thousands of military personnel, in addition to contractors and civilian employees. Most of these employees are community members. Stephen Fuller, economist at George Mason University, found that “‘Military workers’ spending off base far outweighs tax-free incentives on base.’”

Military bases can have on the following effects local communities:

• Employment and Economic Stabilization: Military installations can serve as significant economic anchors for surrounding communities. By employing both service members and civilian personnel, they generate steady demand for local goods and services.

• Infrastructure and Utility Development: The presence of a military base often drives investment in infrastructure, such as roads, schools, and healthcare facilities. These improvements benefit the community while also creating opportunities for local businesses.

• Resource Competition and Resident Displacement: A military installation increases demand for land and water. In some cases, this heightened demand can contribute to rising housing costs, placing pressure on long-term residents and small businesses.

• Increased Cost of Living: While military bases can stimulate economic activity, they may also contribute to a higher cost of living in surrounding areas. Housing and everyday expenses can rise, and these increases are not always matched by wage growth for all residents.

• Vulnerability to Policy Changes: Communities with economies closely tied to military spending may face risk from changes in federal defense policy. Base realignment or closure can result in significant economic disruption, highlighting the importance of economic diversification.

The DOD’s Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC) “leverages capabilities of state and local partners through grants and technical assistance” to help towns, cities, and states build sustainable and mutually beneficial partnerships with the DOD. OLDCC’s portfolio of grants ensures:

• Supply chains are responsive;
• Communities can support local military installations through economic development;
• Civilian activities can support and engage with the DOD;
• Defense communities around the country are supported, and the quality of life for troops and their families is provided for.

Find military installations, schools, reserve units, and local centers for enlisting.

THE PRIVATE SECTOR

The DOD works closely with the private sector primarily through government contracts. In some cases, military contracts with local businesses are a significant source of revenue generation in communities, spearheaded by the DOD’s Office of Small Business Programs.

For larger contracts with national and international vendors, the Defense Contract Management Agency provides contract administration services for the DOD and other federal agencies. It manages hundreds of thousands of contracts. See lists of DOD contracts (valued at $7.5 million or more) here.

Healthcare is another area in which the private sector is involved. For the most part, health care for active-duty service members and veterans is provided by the DOD and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), respectively, but some individuals may turn to private health care providers. In the Bush Center’s 2021 survey on Advancing Outcomes for Our Post-9/11 Veterans and Their Families, fewer than half of respondents agreed that doctors and providers in private practice understand the military culture or health challenges facing post-9/11 veterans and service members. This has led to an increase in specialized care options for veterans, including the Warrior Care Network, the Cohen Veterans Network, and the SHARE Military Initiative at Shepherd Center.

Finally, there are many organizations that serve service members, their families, and veterans. The United Service Organization (USO) is one of the nation’s leading organizations serving service members and their families. AmericaServes is a national coordinated network of organizations dedicated to serving the military community. Academic institutions are another resource for veterans, and often partner with these organizations. The Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families is an example. See this directory of veterans service organizations.

TOP MANAGEMENT AND OPERATION CHALLENGES

Every year, Inspectors General in executive branch agencies identify the top management and challenges facing their respective agencies. The Department of Defense’s annual report provides Congress and the agency’s military and civilian leadership with a detailed overview of its most serious challenges. For the 2026 report, these challenges included the following:

• “Strengthening Deterrence Through Strategic Capabilities
• Manning the Force
• Maintaining and Improving Materiel Readiness
• Ensuring Responsive and Responsible Modernization and Procurement
• Securing and Sustaining Defense Critical Infrastructure
• Supporting Quality of Life for Military Service Members and Their Families
• Achieving and Sustaining a Clean Financial Audit”

MENTAL HEALTH

Depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), suicide, traumatic brain injury, substance abuse, and interpersonal violence are some of the most harmful and prevalent issues facing military service members and veterans. According to the 2024 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report:

• There were over 6,400 veteran suicides in 2022, the most recent year with comprehensive data available.
• Since 2001, suicide deaths among veterans have consistently exceeded those of non-veteran adults.
• The suicide rate has generally increased more rapidly for veterans than for the broader population since 2005. In 2022, the veteran suicide rate was 34.7 per 100,000, compared to 17.1 per 100,000 among non-veteran adults.

There are a few reasons to explain the rise in mental health concerns:

• The nature of warfare, from exposure to combat to the protracted length of war;
• Military culture, from rigorous training and schedules to the dominant masculine identity that makes asking for help during trauma difficult and maintains the idea that acknowledging mental illness may be viewed as a sign of weakness.

Confidentiality concerns present an additional challenge for service members and may contribute to ongoing stigma surrounding mental health. Military patients know that much of their medical care is not private, and in some cases, medical professionals are required to notify command. This means a service member’s file may be flagged if he or she – or even a family member – seeks care for mental health.

Congress provides millions of dollars annually to the Defense Suicide Prevention Office (DSPO), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) receives billions of dollars to combat suicide annually.  The DOD also began Resilience Training in 2008, which has reported reductions in self blame and increased positive coping skills among service members. Additionally, the Army shortened deployment length and increased dwell time (time between deployments) at members’ home bases in 2011, based on evidence that longer dwell time is associated with a lower risk of PTSD.

One dilemma with shorter deployments and increased dwell times has been the shrinking numbers of active-duty military, compared to other periods in history. The U.S. military has been voluntary since 1973, which has resulted in fewer total service members. Army Chief of Staff General James McConville (ret.) said that while he prefers rotations every four years for service members, in practice, they are closer to 1-3 years. In sum, shrinking forces will only add extra strain to existing troops, creating a recipe for burnout.

Refer to our Mental Health Policy Circle Brief for broader discussion on the issue.

SPENDING

The annual Defense Appropriations Act funds most of the DOD’s activities, including the three main military departments (Army, Navy, Air Force), the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and agencies under the DOD. Military construction and family housing programs, Army Corps of Engineers programs, and the TRICARE medical insurance program for military retirees are not included, nor is the VA budget.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) forecasted the continued growth in costs related to national defense in 2022. Primarily:

• Continued growth in the costs of compensation for service members and DoD’s civilian employees;
• Continued growth in costs to operate and maintain the force (including bases, equipment, and broader O&M expenses);
• Increased spending on new, advanced military equipment and weapons, largely driven by a strategic shift toward potential conflicts with technologically advanced militaries;
• Continued growth in military health care costs, consistent with broader increases in national health care spending.

Whether the United States spends too much or too little on its defense budget is heavily debated. In February 2024, 29% of respondents felt the government spends too little on the military, 33% believe the government spends the correct amount, and 35% believe the government spends too much.

Those who believe the United States spends too much on the military generally point to the following issues:

• Military spending dwarfs diplomatic and foreign assistance spending.
• Runaway costs are large contributors. For example, a project to modernize the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Jet with new computing systems and software initially began in 2018 with an end date of 2026 and an estimated cost of $14.4 billion. However, a Government Accountability Office report from 2021 found the schedule was pushed back three years to 2029 and that $741 million had been added to the budget.
• Persistent financial mismanagement is also a significant factor. The Pentagon has repeatedly failed audits due to disorganized, outdated accounting systems and an inability to track trillions in assets, raising concerns about waste, inefficiency, and lack of accountability in how defense funds are spent.

In contrast, those who believe the United States does not spend enough on the military make the following points:

• Military spending has only amounted to 3-5% of GDP since the 1990s, compared to 8-9% during the 1960s
• Congress must consider the priorities submitted by military departments and combatant commands

SPENDING IN COMMUNITIES

In some cases, military installations may have substantial impacts at the state and local levels, including salaries and benefits for military and civilian personnel and retirees, defense contracts with state businesses, and tax revenues and other military spending. However, the information is tempered by federal budget cuts, closures of bases and the impacts of the troop withdrawals from Afghanistan and Iraq. In state case studies, some states did not find any economic gain from having a military base while others found a strong impact. States that did report having an economic gain include the following:

• In Texas, military installations contributed over $120 billion to Texas’ economy in 2019, and more than 630,000 jobs statewide.
• In Maryland, Fort Meade is the state’s largest employer, providing over 50,000 direct jobs and thousands more indirect jobs.
• In Hawaii, direct military spending of $6.5 billion contributed to $12.2 billion in output and over 100,000 full-time equivalent jobs statewide.

Besides military bases, reserve units are also important in communities and sometimes overlooked. See state-by-state economic impacts of reserve units here.

A number of studies have examined what happens to a community when a military base closes; such closures resulted from the Budget Control Act of 2011 sequestration, which led to reductions in soldiers and civilian employees at bases across the country. These studies found:

• An immediate impact from the loss of military and civilian jobs;
• A decline in local tax revenue, leading to fewer public services;
• Declines in enrollment among schools with high proportions of children from military families.

When a base closes, it can offer redevelopment advantages, such as serving as a new industrial site for a manufacturing facility, airport, or research lab, but government programs to assist communities affected by these base closures appear critical. “Over the five-to six-year phasing out of a base…environmental cleanup, successful property transfers to a local redevelopment authority, and widespread community commitment to a sound base reuse plan have been shown to be crucial elements in positioning communities for life without a military installation.”

The August 2021 withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan capped 20 years of armed conflict that affected a generation of people in both countries. The war also changed perceptions of the military and attitudes about how involved the United States should be in the foreign affairs of other countries. As other regions in the world become embroiled in conflict, the United States must weigh how it will become involved: either through its armed forces, diplomacy, sanctions, or a combination. As the overseer of the U.S. armed forces, understanding how the Department of Defense works as well as its budget and impact can help shape how the country responds to other conflicts across the globe.

Measure: Find out about the presence of the armed forces in your state and district.

• Is there a military base, reserve unit, or military school in your community, or nearby in your state?
  • If so, do you know the economic impact of the base in your community?

Identify: Who are the influencers in your state, county, or community? Learn about their priorities and consider how to contact them, including elected officials, attorneys general, law enforcement, boards of education, city councils, journalists, media outlets, community organizations, and local businesses.

• Are any of your state’s congressional representatives on a committee with jurisdiction over the military?
• What steps have your state’s or community’s elected and appointed officials taken?

Reach out: You are a catalyst. Finding a common cause is a great opportunity to build relationships with people outside your immediate network. All it takes is a small team of two or three people to set a path for real improvement. The Policy Circle is your platform to convene with experts you want to hear from.

• Find allies in your community or in nearby towns and elsewhere in the state.
• Foster collaborative relationships with law enforcement, first responders, faith-based organizations, local hospitals, community organizations, school boards, and local businesses.
  • For example, this high school created a scholarship to assist students whose parent or guardian is serving in the military.
  • Blue Star Families is a nonprofit organization that supports military and veteran families by connecting them with resources, communities, and opportunities to improve their quality of life.

Plan: Set some milestones with others to maximize your impact based on your state’s legislative calendar.

• Don’t hesitate to contact The Policy Circle team, [email protected], for connections to the broader network, advice, insights on how to build rapport with policy makers and establish yourself as a civic leader.

Execute: Give it your best shot. You can:

• Consider volunteering with an organization that benefits service members, their families,  or veterans in your community.
  • Is there a USO Center near you?
• Talk to local business owners or reach out to your local chamber of commerce to learn about contracts with the military or the economic impact of a nearby military installation.
• Consider forming community liaisons with other community members to reach out to bases and host events such as open houses, classes, and job fairs.
• Acknowledge military families in the schools and businesses that you are part of.
  • Reach out to military families and ask about their experiences.

Working with others, you may create something great for your community. Here are some tools to learn how to contact your representatives and write an op-ed.