Colin Powell

Military spouse unemployment sits at 21%—six times the national rate—because licensing doesn't transfer across state lines and every PCS move resets careers.

A federal compact that creates portable credentials for the fifteen highest-demand occupations military spouses enter—nursing, teaching, accounting, therapy. Not advocacy; a pre-negotiated legislative package with model state language, paired with remote-first employer certification so companies can hire military spouses knowing they're getting continuity.

Veteran transition programs are fragmented across 45+ federal programs and hundreds of nonprofits, with no standardized impact measurement—you can't tell which ones work.

A clearinghouse that functions like a FICO score for transition programs. Every veteran exiting service gets matched to validated interventions based on their MOS, education, family situation, and destination. Programs get rated on job placement, salary outcomes, and retention at 12 and 24 months. No rating, no referrals.

Youth in neighborhoods lack the structure that transforms aimless kids into purposeful adults. The mentorship programs exist but operate in silos without the longitudinal commitment that actually changes trajectories.

A twenty-year cohort model that follows kids from age eight to twenty-eight—not programs, relationships. Each cohort of fifty kids in a specific zip code gets five adult mentors who commit for the duration. Structured like a unit: attendance, standards, consequences, but also belonging. Track education, employment, incarceration, health outcomes obsessively. Publish everything.

AI is compressing national security decision timelines while most senior officials have no mental model for what these systems can and cannot do. The gap between technical capability and policy understanding is dangerous.

A mandatory simulation exercise—annual, classified, two days—where every NSC principal and combatant commander experiences AI-augmented decision-making under time pressure. Not briefings; scenarios where they feel the compression. Build intuition before crisis forces it. Pair with a small advisory cell of technical experts who can translate between Silicon Valley and the Situation Room.

The military is struggling to recruit because fewer than 25% of young Americans qualify for service and fewer still are interested. The cultural gap between those who serve and those who don't is widening dangerously.

A pre-military fitness and skills academy—six months, residential, no commitment to enlist—that takes young people who want to serve but can't pass entry requirements and gets them there. Physical conditioning, basic education remediation, financial literacy. Those who complete can enlist; those who don't leave with transferable credentials. Fund it with recruiting budget dollars that are currently spent on advertising that isn't working.

Trade school instructor shortages are crippling vocational programs precisely when demand is surging. We can't train plumbers and electricians because there's no one to teach them.

A transitional employment program that takes senior NCOs and warrant officers exiting service—people with 20+ years maintaining complex systems under pressure—and fast-tracks them into trade school teaching with salary bridges and accelerated pedagogy training. Military maintenance experience counts as credential.

Crisis response coordination fails because agencies practice in silos and nobody knows who's in charge until disaster strikes. Every after-action report says 'improve coordination' and nothing changes.

A permanent interagency crisis simulation center—physical location, standing staff—that runs quarterly exercises forcing FEMA, DOD, HHS, state governors, and private sector logistics together under time pressure. Not tabletops; full-scale simulations with real consequences for failure. Grade agencies publicly.

Political polarization has convinced Americans that government service is either corrupt or pointless, draining the pipeline of talented people who should be running agencies in twenty years.

A post-graduate public service fellowship—two years, rotational, $75K salary—that places top performers from business, engineering, and law into operational roles across federal agencies. Not policy shops; line positions where they see how government actually works. Cohort-based with lifetime network obligations. Model it on the White House Fellows program but at scale and focused on execution, not proximity to power.

Immigrant workers arrive with skills but can't deploy them because credential recognition is slow, language barriers persist, and nobody helps them navigate the system. Meanwhile labor shortages cripple industries.

A settlement-to-employment accelerator in twenty gateway cities that combines credential evaluation, intensive occupational English, and direct employer placement—run like a military processing center with clear timelines and accountability. Employers pre-commit to hiring; immigrants pre-commit to completing training. Measure everything: time to employment, wage levels, retention.

Small cities and rural areas lose their young people because there's no clear path from local education to local employment. Economic development focuses on attracting outside companies while homegrown talent leaves.

A community anchor employer program that identifies the five largest employers in counties under 100,000 population—hospitals, school districts, manufacturers—and creates funded pipelines from local high schools directly into those organizations. Guaranteed job upon completion; employer commits to training; community college provides technical education. Tied to staying for five years.