“General Shinseki is a soldier and treating this like a military operation, and in the military you have to have hope for your missions,” said Justin Brown of Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Washington (CNN) — With a simple, declarative statement, the head of the Department of Veterans Affairs announced his ambitious goal to eradicate one of the country’s most shameful problems.

“My name is Shinseki, and I am here to end veteran homelessness,” VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said Tuesday in a speech to the National Summit on Homeless Veterans.

But Shinseki indicated the challenge in meeting his goal by adding, “I learned long ago there are never any absolutes in life, and a goal of zero homeless veterans sure sounds like an absolute.”

The plan unveiled by Shinseki includes trying to leverage existing education and jobs programs, boosting the ability of veteran-owned businesses to compete for federal contracts and spend an additional $3 billion on medical services and homeless programs.

An estimated 131,000 veterans are homeless, according to the VA. That is an improvement from 2003, when the number was as high as 196,000. But the secretary warned that given the ailing economy, the number could increase by as much as 10 percent to 15 percent in the next five years.

The VA plans to focus its new efforts on preventing the problem.

“Our plan enlarges the scope of VA’s efforts to combat homelessness,” said Shinseki in a news release. “In the past, VA focused largely on getting homeless veterans off the streets. Our five-year plan aims also at preventing them from ever ending up homeless.”

The department plans to expand the recently passed educational grants program for veterans who served after September 11, 2001, to include not just college but vocational programs as well, according to VA spokeswoman Katie Roberts.

“Not every veteran wants to spend four years pursuing a college degree, but they might be interested in learning a trade that would get them into the taxpaying work force sooner,” Shinseki said.

The VA will also try to win more federal contracts for veteran-owned businesses, encouraging other agencies to exceed the minimum goal of 3 percent of contracts to veteran-owned small businesses. The increase, the VA believes, will also help employ more veterans since “veterans hire veterans,” Shinseki said.

In addition, it is increasing the amount of vouchers for public-financed housing, adding 10,000 more vouchers in 2010. The plan also calls for more programs to aid transition from prison and psychiatric facilities, as well as a renewed call to treat veterans’ psychiatric conditions.

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