My company GreenMet secures critical minerals and their supply chains. For companies - and the country. That work inspires me, because I believe strong supply chains are essential guarantors of our national security.
I view our nation’s veterans as no less crucial to our national security supply chain. Our ability to recruit active-duty military personnel is directly affected by how we treat these men and women after their service.
Simply put: Our nation’s security is compromised if our veterans don’t receive excellent health care. Our elected officials in Washington, DC are charged with safeguarding and strengthening this critical personnel supply chain. That means providing our veterans with needs-specific and state-of-the-art services.
What do I mean by needs-specific? An estimated 500,000 military personnel suffer from brain injuries. Many as the result of what is called low-level blast exposure. This is the result of the repeated firing of heavy weapons and the detonation of ordnance.
Sadly, these brain injuries lead far too many veterans to contemplate and all too often commit suicide.
Their specific needs must be addressed. There is a bill in Congress: The Precision Brain Health Research Act of 2025 which will focus effort and resources on identifying and researching these brain injuries. This sort of specific focus has thus far been in short supply in veterans’ care. This bill should rapidly become law.
Of course, brain injuries are by their nature difficult to identify. Veterans suffering from them don’t show up with casts or scars. And you can’t treat what you cannot properly track. State-of-the-art health record keeping is crucial to their care.
Unfortunately, Washington had wasted decades allowing the military’s computer health records systems to age, and age, and AGE on the vine. Personnel couldn’t transfer - or transition to veterans’ status - and have their digital records follow them.
Imagine having to print out and hand-carry your hundreds-of-pages of health records. You’re in the military - and you’re on the move, and you might be suffering from those battle scars. You already have enough to worry about.
And of course, this negatively affects the quality of care you receive. Because each new caregiver has to slog through your hand-delivered printout to learn about your condition.
This is especially difficult and dangerous when trying to identify and assist with the unseen and often-unidentified brain injuries with which so many of our personnel suffer.
Fortunately, Washington has finally addressed this egregious lack of oversight. The state-of-the-art MHS Genesis health records system is currently being implemented.
The Defense Department (DoD) is already upgraded and fully functional. And the Veterans Administration (VA) upgrade is underway. And now, under VA Secretary Doug Collins, it is on a rapidly accelerated schedule.
Five VA hospitals (and their attending facilities) have been upgraded. The new schedule will have an additional thirteen online by the end of 2026.
Nationwide, there are a total of 170 VA medical facilities - and approximately 1,200 community-based outpatient clinics. For our veterans, their families - and their health care providers? The sooner they’re upgraded - the better. It is fundamentally important in helping secure our national security supply chain.
I spent a decade of my life in uniform. First as a Marine - and then as a Special Forces officer in the Army. This issue is deeply personal to me.
Not just for me and my care. But for my brothers and sisters in service. Many of whom are contemplating suicide - and not getting the care they need to help prevent it.
Washington is now doing it right. It must do the right thing - and finish what it has started.
Drew Horn is the founder and CEO of GreenMet, a Washington, D.C.-based firm that empowers and expands the American critical minerals industry by bridging the gap between private capital and critical mineral innovation. He served as an Officer with distinction in the US Army Special Forces and US Marine Corps.
