Military Order of the Cootie - My First Assignment!

Orlando, FL

Wow, do things move fast!  I was officially elected to the position of Junior Vice Commander-in-Chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars [whew, that's a mouthful] on Wednesday, 24 July and my first official assignment began on 25 July in Orlando as the National Representative to the Cootie convention.  I even got to hang out with a few fellow Cooties from Illinois!

For those who don't know, the Military Order of the Cootie is the National Honor Degree of the VFW.  To be a member you must first be a member of the VFW.  The work the Cooties do is summed up in their motto:  Keep Them Smiling in Beds of White.  The Cooties take hospital work for veterans very seriously and donate countless hours and dollars to that end.

It was a seriously fun event!  They take the concept of work hard and play hard, and really run with it.  If it's your first time at a Cootie event, I suggest taking a really big wad of one dollar bills.  It seems that no matter what I did it was wrong and I had to pay a fine!  What a great way to have fun and get continual donations for programs.  It was a pleasure hanging out with these folks and I gained a greater insight into what they do.  I'm really impressed with the dedication of these members.  If you have a chance to get involved with the Cooties, don't pass it up.  The smiles you see will be your reward.

For more information on the Cooties, check out https://lotcs.org/

How Did I Get Here?

Orlando, FL

Well, it's Wednesday evening and I was elected to be the Junior Vice Commander in Chief today!  So how did this all come to pass?  I certainly didn't wake up yesterday and decide to do this!

I joined the VFW in 1991 when I returned from the Gulf War, where I served as an Air Force Security Policeman.  As a Citizen-Soldier I was returned to the Air National Guard, medically discharged a few years later, and went back to work as a Judge in Missouri.  Years passed before I became truly active in the VFW.

In 1999 I was elected as my Department's Judge Advocate and apparently did well enough to continue in that role until 2011 when I was elected as the Department Junior Vice Commander.  I worked through those Chairs and in 2013-2014 became an All-American Department Commander.  But in the time between 1999 and 2014 I was also fortunate to serve on the National level as the Judge Advocate General and Parliamentarian multiple times.  It was in those positions that I realized I could do more for the VFW, and that launched the idea to run for the office of Commander-in-Chief.

There are many ways to get things done and I took a unique way.  Opting to not do things as they always had been done, I traveled throughout the Big Ten with a simple message:  Protect the Past, Promote the Present, and Prepare for the Future. No promises, no deals.  Just a message and a vision. It resonated with the troops and before I knew it VFW members wanted to get on board and move that vision forward.

So, here I am.  The congratulatory parties are over and the real work begins tomorrow.  I'm fortunate to have Hal as the Senior Vice and Doc as the Commander-in-Chief to be my mentors.  We will make a great team, each bringing different strengths to the table but all with the same goal:  Taking care of veterans!

Here's a pic of us after the elections and installation of officers.  Three happy comrades pledging to do our best!  I'm the short one!

My Acceptance Speech at the VFW Orlando Convention

Orlando, FL

Some of you asked if I had a video of my remarks when I was elected.  This is from someone who captured it on their phone, so it's not the best but you can hear me.  It's short and to the point. After all the day belonged to our newly elected Commander in Chief, Doc Schmitz!  In a few years, I'll be making that Chief speech and I can't wait!

Launching This Project!

Greetings and welcome to the first note on this blog.

The question to answer is, of course: What will you get out of this?

In an effort to let you all know what I'm doing over the next few years as I move through "The Chairs" of the National VFW leadership, we created this blog to let you see firsthand what's going on.  This is going to be more than the usual Facebook snippet that I'm traveling to location X to have a productive meeting.  That is nice to know, but doesn't give you any insight as to what's going on.

So, in that vein, we hope to give you that look behind the curtains.  Along with that, you're going to get the mundane as well as the exciting because, after all, that's what life is really like.  If I'm wowed by something going on when I visit a Post, you'll hear about it.  If I'm stuck in an airport for hours because of flight delays, you might hear about that, too. It's all in a day's work.

To answer that question at the top, I want you to feel connected to a Chair Officer as I travel on your behalf spreading the good news of the VFW.   This is just the beginning of three years representing the Veterans of Foreign Wars all over the world.  Let that sink in.  Representing a million plus organization of combat veterans in the never-ending quest for better veterans service, better veterans benefits, and better legislation! For anyone with a passion for doing what's right for veterans, THIS is the job to have.

Do I have things I'd like to see implemented in the future? Yes.  Are there things I'd like to see change for the better?  Yes.  But, I'm mindful that this isn't about me.  It's about our organization and the men and women who make it work on a daily basis.  I can lay out my plans, but there are so many moving parts that at the end of the three years all I can really hope for is that I've moved the ball downfield and made it a little easier for those who will follow me.

The VFW is an institution.  It will still be here when I'm long gone.  If I'm fortunate to make a meaningful mark that's great.  But a better legacy will be:  He did his best FOR VETERANS.

I can live with that!