July 31, 2012 - The United States of America has a complicated history with her veterans. Those who serve deserve praise and support for their decision to serve, but that often does not help individual veterans when they leave the military and begin the challenging transition to civilian life. The loss of the strong unit identity and immediate support system often presents major challenges. TakingPoint offers the promise of improving veterans' lives by consolidating our fragmented community, building confidence in the application of military skills, and unlocking the benefits they earned by offering peer mentoring and valuable connections within the network.

A New Type of Community

Up to the Vietnam War, there were official veterans organizations with local chapters that met regularly to tell war stories and enjoy the company of other veterans. The all-volunteer military of the last forty years rarely takes advantage of such groups, and our dwindling numbers make it difficult to connect with others who understand the struggles unique to the veteran community. Fortunately, advances in social media technology—combined with the vision of one Special Forces soldier—have unlocked another option for American men and women who served our country. TakingPoint can connect veterans to each other and the surrounding community in ways that were impossible only a few years ago. Veterans can reach out across the country based on their branch of service, unit, location, or experience to find others like them. TakingPoint help fulfill the promise of our community taking care of its own.

Humble Beginnings

David Johnson, TakingPoint’s CEO, was honorably discharged from the Army after three tours in Iraq with 10th Special Forces Group. He returned home to Phoenix, where his isolation in college prompted the founding of ArmedZilla in 2010 with ambitious goals: providing veteran-to-veteran support; improved access to benefits; and bringing together the fragmented world of veteran and military supporters. David has spent the last few years building up his team of veterans from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, recruiting top-tier engineering talent from Silicon Valley, and talking to every veteran he could find about ways to improve their lives and the lives of their families in the civilian world.

Leading from the Front

As the company grew and matured, David realized the need to refocus on the core population, American veterans. As part of Operation Veteran Force, ArmedZilla changed its name to TakingPoint, promoted a veterans-only focus, instituted stronger privacy controls, and built its interface around the concept of the military unit. Our social media community is growing quickly, with frequent additions to the site. New features to be released soon will stimulate connections among veteran members, provide greater information and access to benefits, and strengthen local support networks. These improvements, coupled with a growing coalition of partners across the country, are what make TakingPoint the model for the 21st century American veteran community.

For more information visit: http://www.takingpoint.com