How should we use AI to to benefit our military & veteran community?

I would use it to make war obsolete. There are reasons for war, and most of those are still the same: resources, territory, land, water, oil, rare earths...ego and religion- perhaps an AI driven study of History, War, and intelligent use of resources could lead to removing all but the existential reasons for war. The Human Psyche demands domination...maybe an AI could modify that. I know it is a pipe dream...but An AI has access to a much bigger set of brains than I have...and If I can imagine it...maybe it can too.

RallyPoint is a specialized professional and social network (often described as "LinkedIn for the military") designed for current U.S. service members, veterans, and their families. It has nearly 2 million members and focuses on secure, verified connections based on military service, units, deployments, and shared experiences. Key features include: Peer-to-peer mentorship and advice
Networking and reconnecting with old comrades.

Discussion forums on military life, career transitions, education, and personal topics
Job placement and career tools (especially for transitioning to civilian roles)
Sharing stories, photos, and updates in a trusted environment

AI can significantly enhance the user experience on a platform like RallyPoint by making it more personalized, efficient, supportive, and engaging—while respecting the community's emphasis on trust, privacy, and military-specific needs. Here are several practical ways AI could improve it:

1. Advanced Personalized Recommendations AI-powered recommendation engines (similar to those already piloted with Amazon Personalize) can suggest more relevant connections, jobs, and content. For example: Matching users with mentors based on rank, MOS/AFSC/rate, deployment history, career stage, and shared challenges (e.g., recommending a veteran who successfully transitioned from infantry to tech sales to someone in a similar position).

Surfacing tailored job listings by translating military experience into civilian equivalents and prioritizing military-friendly employers.

Suggesting relevant discussions, groups, or Q&A threads based on a user's profile and activity.

This has already shown results like 35% better engagement in career recommendations in past collaborations.

2. Smarter Search and Discovery Natural language search that understands military jargon (e.g., "PCS to Fort Bragg advice" or " transitioning 11B to civilian LE jobs") and returns precise results from discussions, profiles, or resources. AI-driven unit or buddy finder that goes beyond basic filters to suggest reconnections using semantic similarity in service histories or geographic locations.

3. Content Moderation and Community Health AI tools to detect toxic behavior, misinformation, or sensitive topics (e.g., mental health crises) while preserving open discussion.

Automated flagging of posts needing moderator review, or gentle nudges toward resources like VA support when certain keywords appear.

4. Enhanced Support and Mental Health Features AI chatbots or virtual assistants for initial, non-clinical support—offering quick answers on benefits, GI Bill questions, or transition checklists, then seamlessly escalating to human peers or professionals.

Sentiment analysis on posts/comments to proactively identify users who might benefit from connecting with peer counselors or support groups.

5. Personalized Feed and Engagement: A smarter newsfeed that prioritizes high-value content like timely advice from verified peers, rather than just chronological posts.

AI-generated summaries of long discussion threads or "trending in your unit/branch" highlights to help busy users stay informed.

6. Career and Transition Tools: Resume builders or profile enhancers that use AI to automatically translate military accomplishments into civilian-friendly language.

Predictive analytics for career paths, suggesting next steps (e.g., certifications, education) based on successful transitions of similar profiles.

7. Accessibility and Inclusivity: Real-time captioning/transcription for shared videos or live events.
AI-powered translation for discussions involving international allies or non-native English speakers in the community.

RallyPoint has already explored AI in areas like job personalization (via AWS partnerships) and marketing/outreach (via Zeta Global in 2024), showing the platform is open to these integrations.

Future enhancements would need to prioritize data privacy, avoid over-automation of human peer connections, and maintain the verified, military-only trust that defines the network. Overall, AI's biggest value lies in amplifying RallyPoint's core strength—peer-driven support—by surfacing the right people, opportunities, and information at the right time, making the military community's "lifetime journey" smoother and more connected.

After twenty years in uniform and another twenty in cybersecurity, I look at AI the same way I looked at any new tool in the Army. If it helps the mission, reduces friction, and gives people time back, we should use it. If it creates more work or confusion, we should leave it alone.

For quality of life, AI can take a lot of the administrative burden off service members. Scheduling, medical appointments, PCS planning, benefits navigation, and all the other tasks that eat up hours can be handled in minutes. That means more time for training, family, and recovery.

For career success, AI can help troops translate their military experience into civilian language, build resumes, prepare for interviews, and explore career paths they may not have considered. A lot of veterans do not struggle because of a lack of skill. They struggle because they do not know how to communicate what they already bring to the table. AI can bridge that gap. (FYI the resume's coming out of TAP are a travesty).

For the force, AI can support training, planning, maintenance forecasting, and knowledge retention. It will NOT replace leadership or experience, but it can make leaders more informed and Soldiers more prepared.

The key is simple. Use AI as you would any other tool; to remove friction, not add to it. Use it to make life easier, not harder. If it improves readiness, reduces stress, and helps service members and veterans navigate their careers and benefits with less frustration, then it is worth using. The human element still matters most. AI is just another tool to help us take care of people and accomplish the mission.

"Improvise, adapt and overcome!!!"

I think using A. I. In the capacity of simulating the benefits and consequences of attention to detail (lifesaving) and inattention to detail (loss of lives), will give all personnel a very cinematic 3D, real experience of what death looks like up close, so that any potential encounters will not be paralyzing to their ability to take action. I think A.I. interactive exercises can help individuals shore up their tactical and battle ready skills.

AI can absolutely be used to collect and process information for all military members, families, etc for many of those things which can be hard to find or difficult to decipher. From finance, to navigating the VA, to understanding all kinds of how-tos without having to find the repository within a website or from a support unit. AI can provide the means to ask questions in a natural language, and enable the ability to follow up and add additional context to the questions. If you've seen an FAQ on a military website, chances are it might be able to address the most commonly asked questions, but rarely can address the ones with nuances. AI can be trained to do this over time, so that when a question is successfully answered the first time, it will be available to all. Navigating the VA, for all of us who use it for healthcare, know all too well there is a learning curve to do it. AI could help folks understand how to get from point A to B if trained properly. The military / VA support services would do well to talk to the big AI providers to help them figure out how to do this.

RallyPoint could even become a source for training AI for the larger masses too. There is a lot of experience and knowledge here for the many challenges we come across in the military. But not all of us are always watching for the questions we might have insight on. Imagine if an AI tool could sort through the many posts on the site now and list out all of what it has found. Instead of just posting a question to the masses and waiting for one of us to answer, an AI bot may already be able to give it you immediately from another post you may not have been able to find.

Using AI for intake tasks, automation, reporting needs, and analysis could be extremely valuable. As a Commander, I often found myself chasing data across systems to make our team more effective, while still managing the metrics senior leaders required in their preferred formats.

AI could reduce the administrative friction that pulls leaders away from leading. Not by replacing judgment, but by consolidating information, surfacing risk earlier, and flagging trends before they become problems. Readiness gaps, training shortfalls, medical compliance, retention risk: those are areas where predictive tools could provide real decision advantage.

For service members and veterans, I see even more potential in transition and career alignment. Translating MOS experience into civilian roles, navigating benefits, or identifying skill gaps for promotion or post-service employment are still largely manual and fragmented processes. AI could personalize guidance and reduce confusion without adding bureaucracy.

Within a community like RallyPoint, AI could improve signal-to-noise. It could surface relevant discussions based on rank, branch, MOS, or current life stage. It could summarize long threads into actionable insights. It could connect members to mentors or prior-service professionals who have already navigated similar paths. Instead of just being a forum, it becomes a structured knowledge network.

The key, whether in units or online communities, is discipline. If AI adds complexity, increases reporting, or amplifies noise, it fails. If it reduces friction, sharpens decisions, and improves quality of life, it becomes a force multiplier.

Very, very carefully, with much thought and planning. While I see this tech being used to great effect in science and medicine and some other endeavors, I also see all kinds of businesses and interests tripping over themselves to monetize AI - oftentimes by replacing people... that is NOT a good direction.