When he was an 18-year-old kid in 1982, Warren resident Marc Trail knew two things: he wanted to own his own business and he wanted to serve in the military.

What he didn’t know was how serving as an Operations Specialist 2nd Class in the U.S. Navy would help him develop many of the tools he needed to be a successful entrepreneur.

“From the time you go through basic, you learn attention to detail and how to follow and give direction,” said Trail. “You’re dealing with crisis situations and serving in highly stressful environments, but you are expected to perform.”

He added it was in the Navy he learned it is important to know and understand policy and procedure and how to do everything in a certain order, but equally important to know what to do when policy and procedure don’t work.

It is probably not a coincidence that veterans are 45% more likely to be self-employed than non-veterans

“You really have to be kind of MacGyver-like,” Trail said.

Trail has been a business owner for 30 years, the past five operating CarePatrol of Macomb, a service that helps to connect families with resources that can help them manage care for aging loved ones. It was his own personal experience navigating care for a family member that drew him to CarePatrol.

He was in the process of trying to figure out support needs for his parents when he learned about CarePatrol and that led him to launch the business.

“Our country doesn’t see what is coming our way with our seniors needing higher levels of care,” said Trail. “I help families understand how care looks today and how it will look in the future and identify the most appropriate solutions.

“It can cost upwards of $33,000 a month for care so that is my real passion; helping families navigate the financial end of it.”

Trail said he brings a veteran’s understanding to the importance of what he does.

“When I was in the Navy I was protecting our country from outside enemies, but I’m still protecting our country by helping people right here in our community,” Trail said.

Many of the people with whom Trail works are veterans like himself. He has helped several of them access their benefits through the Veterans Administration. Sometimes it is making them aware of what is available or helping cut through red tape and sometimes it is simply helping them define specifically what they need.

“We have so many seniors who are vets that do not have access to their benefits because they never pursued it,” said Trail. “That is a significant issue because many times, the cost of care falls to children or family members.

“The people within the VA want to do good, but it is a big system and it can be complicated to navigate.”

Outside of CarePatrol, Trail works with homeless veterans and runs a veterans support group with Nate Jolliff.

“When I go to bed at night, I know that I’ve helped someone,” Trail said.

May is National Military Appreciation Month.