The company didn't start as a way to draw blood for civilians but for a quicker/easier way to draw blood on the battle field...hence the original board composition.
That's not strictly true, the board composition was far more traditional prior to 2013, a lot of these government guys came on at that point. From the wikipedia article:
In July 2013, the composition of the Theranos board of directors changed markedly, with departure of Channing Robertson (emeritus professor, chemical engineering, Stanford University),[39] experienced pharma and biotech executive Robert B. Shapiro (former chairman/CEO of the Pharmacia, Monsanto, and G.D. Searle group of companies), and financier Pete Thomas (principal, ATA Ventures).[6][38] Remaining from the original board were Theranos President and COO Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani and former Secretary of State George Shultz;
