USAA has launched “Honor Through Action,” a national movement to ensure veterans and their families are celebrated, supported, and advocated for every day of the year – and not just on Veterans Day.
Through advocacy in action, USAA will invest $500 million over the next five years into meaningful careers, financial security, and well-being to celebrate the military community, said USAA Vice President of Corporate Impact Jenna Salcedo Herrea.
“We’re going to focus on meaningful careers, financial security, and overall well-being, because these are areas of concern that our members have elevated to us,” she said.
The commitment will bring together partners across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to create meaningful, measurable change on the issues that matter most to veterans and their families, said retired United States Army Maj. General and USAA Senior Vice President, head of Policy and Alliances, John B. Richardson.
“Our effort here is to build this alliance to pass very focused policy changes to help our veterans with those three specific topics so their transition is as smooth as possible,” he said.
According to the Department of Defense's Transition Assistance Program, less than one in five transitioning service members feel that they are fully prepared to secure civilian employment, and once working, the average tenure is less than a year. Blue Star Families also found that the unemployment rate for military spouses remains four times higher than the civilian rate.
USAA will partner with veterans and civilians across the country to share their stories and spark a national conversation as a result of the initiative, whose goal is to help Americans better understand the realities of military life and how to go beyond a simple “thank you for your service.”
“At the end of the day, it’s about transforming lives,” Salcedo Herrea said.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.