Force Readiness
Severely Wounded, Ill and Injured
Toxic Exposure
Transition Support
Economic Empowerment
Women Veterans
Brain Health and Traumatic Brain Injury
Mental Health and Suicide Prevention
Health Resources and Workforce Improvements: Ensure the Military Health System has sufficient funding and staffing and possesses appropriate tools to address critical shortage specialties.
Health Partnerships: Promote collaboration between the Defense Health Agency and the Veterans Health Administration to enable resource sharing and sustain provider readiness for treating critically ill and injured service members.
Medical Readiness: Pursue policies that will help sustain critical wartime medical skills and tasks for military health care providers.
Financial Readiness: Advocate for policies and programs that build, sustain, and support financial readiness across a Service member’s career.
Holistic Force Resiliency: Support initiatives that enhance total force readiness by fostering healthy, sustainable habits — physical, mental, nutritional, sleep, and spiritual readiness — and preventing injuries.
Force Readiness
*Military Health System (MHS) Medical Surveillance Monthly Report, September 2025.
Injuries, mental health, and musculoskeletal conditions are leading drivers of medical care needs, impacting deployability across the active-duty force.*
26%
Service member readiness depends on access to a well-staffed, coordinated health system and sustained support across physical, medical, and financial domains.
The Need
Complex Case Management and Continuity of Care: Make systems of federal, state, and local care easier to navigate for those with the most severe injuries and illnesses.
Prosthetics and Adaptive Devices: Strengthen DoD and VA prosthetic care to help Service members and veterans reintegrate back into military service and the community more quickly and effectively.
Caregivers: Prioritize services for caregivers who support veterans with the highest needs, including help with retirement planning.
Benefits and Independence: Strengthen adaptive housing, vehicle, and accessibility programs that empower veterans to live independently and achieve the highest possible quality of life.
Severely Wounded, Ill and Injured
of WWP warriors report needing assistive technology/adaptive equipment
45%
of WWP warriors need aid/assistance from another person due to service-connected injuries or health problems
26%
Many veterans face numerous service-related injuries and challenges when they return home, highlighting the urgent need for comprehensive support systems.
The Need
News & Special Coverage
Exposure-Related Claims: Improve VA’s presumptive decision-making process to ensure faster, more transparent, and more consistent consideration of new illnesses for inclusion under the PACT Act.
Exposure Tracking and Prevention: Strengthen prevention, monitoring, and response to occupational and environmental hazards by expanding the Individual Longitudinal Exposure Record and improving coordination with VA to ensure seamless exposure tracking across a Service member’s career.
Cancer Care: Improve the quality of cancer care for exposed veterans through exposure-informed screening for early detection, more clinical trials, and enhanced care coordination.
Toxic Exposure
of WWP warriors have received treatment at the VA for toxic exposure
9%
of WWP warriors reported exposure to burning trash during service
73%
Our nation must support veterans suffering from exposure-related illness, just as we do for those who are injured during service.
The Need
Transition Preparation Support: Promote policies to support warriors while they are still in the military and at or near their transition point to prepare them for the changes they will face when adjusting to civilian life.
Health Care: Support policies that help coordinate efforts across VA, DoD, and the community to ensure that Service members transition seamlessly to civilian life.
Benefits Access and Process Improvement: Support legislation and policies that strengthen the benefits process before, during, and after separation.
Community Integration and Well-Being: Champion grants and innovative initiatives that create and promote meaningful reintegration opportunities for transitioning Service members.
Transition Support
did not feel fully transitioned 6.5 years after separation**
19%
Service members transition out of the military each year*
200K
Healthy transitions from military to civilian life begin during service and continue long after separation. Successful transitions depend on coordinated support across mental, physical, and financial well-being.
The Need
Veteran Readiness & Employment (VR&E): Improve VR&E by expanding access for more disabled veterans, clarifying when the program can be used, increasing transparency in eligibility decisions, and strengthening VA staffing and training.
Employment: Create opportunities throughout the federal government to place veterans, including those with significant disabilities, in roles that leverage the skills and experience they developed in the military. Help improve processes at key career transition points, including military separation and improvement from long-term disability.
Housing and Homelessness: Advance an agenda that prevents veteran homelessness, accelerates rapid rehousing, and expands permanent supportive housing so fewer veterans become homeless.
Financial Security
of WWP warriors reported not earning enough money, given their skill level
37%
of WWP warriors reported financial strain
67%
Unemployment and financial strain remain top concerns among the warrior population.
The Need
News & Special Coverage
Read the 2025 Women Warriors Report
Gender-Specific Care: Expand access to gender-specific services at DoD, VA, and community providers.
Legislative Implementation: Ensure new laws aimed at modernizing and improving health outcomes for women veterans at VA – such as the Deborah Sampson Act and the MAMMO Act – are fully implemented.
Connection and Recognition of Service: Strengthen VA outreach to women veterans to improve engagement, increase response rates, and encourage full use of earned benefits.
Financial Wellness: Promote policies to assist with employment, financial obligations, food security, housing stability, and childcare.
Women Veterans
unemployment rate among WWP women warriors
15.7%
of WWP women warriors reported they had difficulty or delayed getting care for physical injuries.
53%
While women veterans consistently break down barriers, they still experience unique challenges and gaps in care, both in uniform and beyond.
The Need
Prevention, Tracking, and Treatment: Advance policies to promote brain health, strengthen injury tracking and early intervention, and expand access to evidence-based treatment and recovery options for Service members and veterans.
Research and Development: Prioritize research into low-level blast and blast overpressure exposures. Support sustained congressional funding for evidence-based brain health and traumatic brain injury research to improve operational performance, strengthen force readiness, and reduce long-term brain health issues after service.
Brain Health and Traumatic Brain Injury
of WWP warriors experienced symptoms of head injury during service
37%
of WWP warriors self-reported experiencing TBI during their military service
35%
Brain trauma, specifically traumatic brain injury (TBI), has been referred to as a “signature injury” for post-9/11 veterans, and affects many warriors we serve.
The Need
News & Special Coverage
Innovative and Emerging Therapies: Invest in new treatment approaches that provide personalized, effective care for mental health and substance use disorders, including psychedelic-assisted therapy.
Access and Affordability: Pursue policies that connect veterans to high-quality mental health care and close workforce gaps, so they experience shorter wait times and more consistent treatment. Strengthen care for co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders while reducing unnecessary prescriptions.
Suicide Prevention and Resiliency Building: Expand access to non-clinical support — including peer support networks and early intervention services that protect against suicide and support veterans’ whole health.
Mental Health and Suicide Prevention
of WWP warriors reported experiencing suicidal thoughts in the past year
28%
of WWP warriors reported PTSD
77%
of WWP warriors reported anxiety
80%
Mental health conditions continue to be among the top service-related health issues reported by WWP warriors.
The Need
*U.S. Government Accountability Office, Transition to Civilian Life Report: Better Collection and Analysis of Military Service Data Needed to Improve Oversight of the Skillbridge Program
**Pennsylvania State University VETERANetwork, An Overview of the Typical Veteran in Transition infographic
*U.S. Government Accountability Office, Transition to Civilian Life Report: Better Collection and Analysis of Military Service Data Needed to Improve Oversight of the Skillbridge Program
**Pennsylvania State University VETERANetwork, An Overview of the Typical Veteran in Transition infographic