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Former Capt. Mike Hutchings
U.S. Army
Former Capt. Mike Hutchings Former Capt. Mike Hutchings

CONNECTING VETERANS WITH SOCIAL-SERVICE RESOURCES

By Charlsy Panzino
Photo by Allan Millora

Combined Arms CEO former Army Capt. Mike Hutchings said the organization serves as a single point of entry for resources that veterans and military spouses need.

'It takes everyone working together from a collective impact standpoint to move the needle ... statistically forward on veterans issues.'

"It's like an Amazon marketplace of social-service resources," said Hutchings, who served in the Army for six years as a parachute infantry officer.

Combined Arms vetted and validated the more than 400 organizations on its platform and ensures veterans and spouses receive high-quality care, including legal and benefits assistance, mental health resources, and marital counseling.

However, it's not just a directory. When a veteran or spouse finds an organization through the platform that provides the resource they're looking for, that organization has up to 72 hours to start delivering those services, Hutchings said.

In addition to offering a national platform, Combined Arms has worked with Texas, South Carolina, and Virginia to build an integrated veterans network for the entire state.

The Texas network platform has served more than 65,000 unique individual clients so far.

The goal is to integrate this platform with every state, and even for veterans in other countries, so they can easily access high-quality care.

"If you do a Google search [for a resource], you'll get 12 million results," he said. "The top is ads and a lot of for-profit entities that are predatory."

There are a lot of organizations who do it for free, and Combined Arms helps veterans sift through the noise and easily connect with those resources, he said.

Combined Arms also works with The MOAA Foundation to help vet and refer applicants who meet the criteria for MOAA's Crisis Relief Program, which offers financial assistance to those in the military community.

"It takes everyone working together from a collective impact standpoint to move the needle ... statistically forward on veterans issues," Hutchings said.

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This material originally appeared in Military Officer, a magazine available to all MOAA PREMIUM and LIFE members.

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