Most Americans don’t realize just how massive the US Department of Veterans Affairs really is. With about 470,000 employees—more than the entire active-duty US Army—the VA is one of the largest federal agencies. And yet, even its vast workforce is dwarfed by the more than 9 million Veterans it currently serves.
The Trump Administration ushered in new leadership at the VA. G.I. Jobs CEO Chris Hale sat down with three of the department’s top officials to discuss their first 100 days, their vision for reform, and the urgent work ahead to deliver better outcomes for America’s Veterans.
We begin with Secretary of Veterans Affairs Douglas Collins, a Veteran of both the US Air Force Reserve and Navy Reserve and a former US Congressman. Sworn in as the 12th VA Secretary in February by President Donald Trump, Collins is tackling systemic issues head-on, from agency culture to claims backlogs to frontline accountability.
The following are highlights from our interview, edited for clarity and length.
G.I. Jobs: You’ve had a busy travel schedule your first 100 days. How has that changed your goals?
Collins: It’s been a joy, but also a lot of work. What I’ve seen reaffirms what I already believed and motivates me to make the changes that we need to make. The VA is massive—bigger than the active-duty Army by about 20,000 people. I served in Congress for eight years, so I know there is a tendency to solve problems by throwing more money and people at them. But sometimes it’s not a resource issue—it’s about doing things smarter. Are we doing it the proper way? Are we asking why? And I think it has shown me that there’s things we can continue to do better. There’s some things we may need to change.
G.I. Jobs: Let’s talk about culture. You’ve been hands-on with employees, patients and Veterans. Leaders understand that everything starts with culture. Where do you think VA culture stands today, and where do you want to take it?
Collins: It’s changing. I think there’s a twofold issue here. One, there’s a culture at the VA that employees have been used to being complained about. Whether it be Congress, VSOs or others, they would say, ‘Well, here’s a problem at the VA. The VA is broken. The VA is bad.’ What I’ve tried to change in these first 100 days, from the top down, is to say, ‘No longer is the VA a whipping post for anybody.’ We’re going to be the premier agency that gives Veterans healthcare. We’re the only one that’s tasked to do that. We’re going to do that very well.’
Number two, we’re not going to scare people. We’re not going to scare Veterans. We’re not going to scare employees over change. Change is the most difficult thing in any organization. I want our people to be proud to be in the VA. I want them to know that they have a secretary that backs them up, but is also willing to have the hard conversations about whether we are putting the proper resources in money and people in the right areas. Nobody will get fired at the VA for trying something. In fact, I want you to try. If you fail, fine. You know I’ll pick you up and put you back on the path again. We’ve got to get back into a culture where we’re OK to try new things.
G.I. Jobs: In your Senate testimony, you said, ‘The VA is not a federal jobs program. It’s an organization whose sole purpose is to serve Veterans.’ How do you balance reducing costs and increasing productivity while maintaining the level of service?
Collins: We’ve added over $100 billion to the VA budget and tens of thousands of employees, yet our healthcare wait times and disability claims have gone in the wrong direction. In fact they’ve increased over the past few years. When I took office, the VA benefits backlog was 260,000. In 100 days, we’ve brought that under 200,000—down over 20%. It’s a refocusing and saying, ‘Look, why do we have people in the places we do?’
G.I. Jobs: Looking down the road—after your time as Secretary—what do you want your legacy to be?
Collins: I want them to say he made a difference. He did what he said he would do.
Read this full article and more in the June 2025 Issue of G.I. Jobs magazine.
