Editor’s Brief

Last Week, week we looked at Legion Intelligence and how the US can outmaneuver China deploying AI where it matters most. The Director of National Intelligence also read last weeks issue before the AWS Conference… Probably.

Now onto this week:
For those who’ve lost a son, daughter, sibling, parent, or friend to suicide — you already understand the stakes of today’s topic in a way most others may never fully grasp.

But if you haven’t been personally affected by it, I just ask you read this in its entirety. Because this is a conversation worth having.

The U.S. is already fighting a war—not with bullets, but with narratives, disinformation, and psychological manipulation. And we’re sending our youngest warfighters into it with no mental armor

Signal Brief: Chimney Trail Health - Cognitive Defense is Force Protection

Chimney Trail Health delivers defense-grade cognitive training through a blended model that combines in-person seminars with quarterly "Waypoint Kits.” This preemptive, hands-on system builds mental readiness before breakdown ever begins and creates lasting behavioral change where traditional digital and seminar-only methods fall short.

As turnover, suicide, and burnout rise, the backbone of our force is being depleted, weakening national readiness while our adversaries actively exploit these vulnerabilities. Proactive cognitive defense isn’t a nice-to-have; it’s a core pillar of force protection.

Origins & Vision

Launched in May 2018 by CDR Matthew Brown, Brad Markey, and Garrett Santos, Chimney Trail’s mission crystallized after Brown lost a sailor from his previous command, USS Scout, to suicide. Following an impactful conversation with the sailor’s father and a subsequent conversation with his wife, Brown’s career trajectory shifted, and he decided to solve the problem of cognitive collapse before it spirals into crisis. 

Interviews with leading psychologists and psychiatrists made one thing clear: mental resilience education was arriving too late. So the mission shifted. How do you build mental readiness and cognitive defense before someone’s even asking for help?

Collaborations with Stanford's Hoover Institution and other academic centers helped develop a product suite to make individuals feel personally seen and valued, not just another cog in the machine. The company is also expanding into psychographic analysis and sentiment detection, working to build critical thinking as a core warfighting competency.

Key Takeaways

• Validated Demand: User and acceptance data exceeds 95%

• Dual-Use Applicability: Contracts from Fortune 100 companies, federal agencies, and Johns Hopkins APL

• Cognitive Defense as a National Security Imperative: Suicide now outpaces combat deaths 4-to-1; adversaries actively weaponize disinformation to exploit mental vulnerabilities across service members and their families

• Veteran-Led, Clinically Vetted: Team includes veterans from SEALs, USCG, MLB; CBT content vetted by Beck Institute-certified clinicians

Tech Radar:

Waypoint Kits – Experiential Cognitive Behavioral Theory Training

Kits are personalized, mail-delivered packages that transform abstract psychological concepts like prospecting theory into tangible, memorable experiences. Each quarterly kit (~$400 for four units) includes:

• Tactical Gear: Shovel, smokeless stoves, and other tools valued at $100+ per kit.

• Experiential Exercises: Outdoor-based challenges that cement concepts by engaging the brain in novel environments

• Offline Deployment: No internet required—ideal for contested or remote settings

• Family Integration: Modules for spouses and dependents to build collective resilience.

• Measurable Outcomes: Assessments track literacy improvements and sustained behavioral change.

Advanced Capability Portfolio

• Cognitive Warfare Analytics: Tools for psychographic/sentiment analysis to counter foreign influence ops

• Predictive Mental Health Monitoring: Kits tailored to the individual’s background, stressors, and needs

• Information Resilience: Training modules to build fortitude against disinformation and algorithmic trauma

Market Signals

Funding & Growth

• Total Funding: $500K via SAFEs and convertible notes @ $5M valuation cap

• Notable Investors: PenFed Credit Union

Leadership

• CEO: CDR Matthew Brown, USNR (Hoover Fellow, SEAL Team 17 advisor)

• Clinical: Dr. Leah Blain, CBT specialist (UPenn, Beck Institute)

• Operations: Garrett Santos, USCG Commander (HC-27J, Deepwater Horizon)

• Product: Brad Markey, former pitcher with the Cubs, Reds, and Tigers

• Board: ADM Gary Roughead (Former CNO)

Contracts & Government Traction

• Marine Corps Community Services: $25M, five-year IDIQ for 26,600+ kits & structured training

• Defense Suicide Prevention Office: CBT kits integrated into national suicide-prevention strategy

• Pilots Active Across Services: Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Coast Guard.

• Fortune 100 & Research: Corporate wellness partners & Johns Hopkins APL engagement

Looking Ahead

The generation that won World War II endured long separations, combat trauma, economic, and political uncertainty. Most never articulated their struggles of readjusting to civilian life but they returned to communities rich in "third places:” think VFW halls, barber shops, churches, local parks and other social spaces outside home and work that supported collective healing.

Today, less than 1% of Americans serve on active duty. The third spaces that helped the Greatest Generation process war have largely disappeared.  In their place? Phones, social media echo chambers, and feeds engineered for confusion and loneliness.

Cognitive warfare is underway except instead of C-17s dropping propaganda leaflets:

China is using AI-powered influence ops, weaponized media, and algorithmic disinformation to fracture cohesion and erode trust in our institutions, our leaders, and each other. For a 19-year-old checking into their first squadron, just a few swipes away from despair, this can be devastating.

This isn’t tinfoil-hat territory. But even if it were, it doesn’t matter. Trust erosion is the point. Whether the content came from Beijing or Boise, if it destabilizes us, it’s working.

The good news? It’s a brittle threat. But only if we act.

And action means embedding cognitive defense into training pipelines, acquisition priorities, and leadership doctrine.

So the Pentagon has a choice: treat mental health as mission-critical, or keep giving grief briefs and calling it leadership.

If you’re in a position to fund, advocate, or implement solutions, this is a fight worth taking on. The cost of inaction is personal and we can’t afford to keep driving down the road we are on.

Challenges

• Buy-In Across the Force: Mental fitness still gets sidelined in favor of physical readiness.

• Stigma at the Unit Level: Even with top-down support, stigma persists in small teams and across generational levels

• Cognitive Fog of War: AI-driven disinformation and information overload make it harder for service members to recognize real threats even with proper training.

Bottom Line:

We can spend billions on drones and hardened comms. But if we neglect the humans who operate them—if we don’t invest in their mental resilience—we lose long before kinetic conflict begins.

That’s why Chimney Trail matters. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s a start. A real, fieldable advantage for the cognitive domain.

We still need more clinicians. We still need to rebuild “third places.” And we need to stop calling younger generations "fragile."

For someone actually facing mental health battles, every day is a war. And our job is to equip them with the mental armor they need to win it.

Next Week, we will be releasing our interview with Chimney Trail CEO Matt Brown. Special thanks to the team at The Bulleit Group for getting things scheduled and Matt for giving some great insights into the company.

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1  The views expressed in this newsletter are my own and do not represent the views of the U.S. Navy, Department of Defense, or any government agency. Mention of companies, technologies, or products is not an endorsement or recommendation. The content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice.