The Veterans of Foreign Wars Gives a Voice to Military Personnel Both Active and Retired

Since its founding in 1899, the Veterans of Foreign Wars organization has been the largest unified advocate for United States military veterans, promoting programs and championing legislation that support armed forces veterans who have served in military endeavors outside of the U.S. In recent decades, the scope of the VFW has grown to include the interests of active military personnel, becoming a de facto union for military professionals.

The VFW is largely responsible for many of the most substantial benefit programs the U.S. offers to veterans. The organization was an essential proponent of the 1944 GI Bill of Rights, as well as that bill’s two major subsequent pieces of legislation, the Montgomery GI Bill Act of 1984 and the Post-9/11 GI Bill of 2001. Each bill guaranteed, among other benefits, tuition assistance, insurance, low-cost mortgage and loan rates, and unemployment compensation to military veterans.

Those historic legislative victories have encouraged the Veterans of Foreign Wars to use their influence in Washington to represent active military professionals as well as veterans. According to Lynn W. Rolf, Programs Director for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the VFW has become the voice for rank-and-file military in American politics.

Vfw legislative efforts

“Aside from high-ranking leaders, the military didn’t really have a voice on The Hill, so that has become our job,” said Rolf. “We are really the military’s union in the sense that we are unified organization advocating for their rights on a full-time basis.”

Rolf said the VFW’s biggest concern right now is challenging the sequestration that was recently imposed on the military with the Budget Control Act of 2011, which slashed funding for Operations and Maintenance accounts, including those dedicated to the training and readiness of combat units during at-home cycles between deployments.

“Sequestration has been an enormous hindrance to both military readiness and quality of life,” Rolf said. “Most dangerously, it has weakened our defenses. So every day we are out there either testifying in Congress or sharing stories with military and political leadership to make people understand what’s going on.”

Challenges and battles

The VFW’s fight to repeal the Budget Control Act is just one of the organization’s many concerns. One recurring battle is with the Veterans Administration (or VA), an ally of the VFW, but one that Rolf says needs a strong push on a near-daily basis.

“We’re constantly working to hold the VA accountable. We need to repair the appeals process for benefits and make sure that vets get timely and quality health care. That is one of the main things our organization is always focused on.”

Support and fundraising

Fortunately, the VFW—a non-profit organization—does not fight these battles without support. A number of businesses have dedicated portions of their profits to benefit the VFW. Among those business is Sport Clips Haircuts, whose decade-plus-long relationship with the VFW has produced the Help a Hero program, a scholarship fund that provides up to $5,000 in tuition assistance to military professionals pursuing education at post-secondary institutions.

Each year, Sport Clips dedicates one month, from mid-October through Veterans Day, to raising funds for Help a Hero. To date, the program has raised more than $3 million dollars, enough to support more than 800 scholarships for student veterans. This year, Sport Clips* is aiming to raise $1 million for the program.

Sport Clips is collecting donations for the Help a Hero campaign at each of their stores and at local fundraising events through November 11, Veterans Day. On Veterans Day, Sport Clips will make their biggest push for donations with a “Biggest Haircut Day of the Year” event, wherein the company will donate one dollar to the Help a Hero program for every haircare service provided. Additionally, a number of participating stores will provide free haircuts to service members and veterans.