Any ideas for revitalizing the American Legion/Marine Corps League/VFW with young vets?

2014-05-03T15:25:49-04:00

I have been on the board of my local Legion here in Grafton Ma and don't see many people under the age of 50. What are other military groups doing differently to increase the presence of the younger veteran generation to network and stay plugged into the veteran community?

Response by CSM Michael J. Uhlig made May 3 at 2014 3:34 PM

2014-05-03T15:34:47-04:00

First of all, thanks for continuing to serve!

I am completely for this and think it's a great idea! The challenge is to ensure our organizations welcome our younger generations, and can reach them on their level!

(for instance, I have a personal laptop and thought the small round button in the middle of the keyboard was a microphone...looked like it had holes in it - one of my Soldiers (19 years old) said, CSM, that is a mouse!)

We gotta be able to speak the same language to reach all generations....and be able to show how it is value added to all....unfortunatle many will only see the value as they age and are seeking to get that bond.

Response by MSG Wade Huffman made May 12 at 2014 2:42 PM

2014-05-12T14:42:15-04:00

You are not alone in this quest. I am a member of VFW, American Legion and AMVETS and serve as an officer at my AMVETS post and we are all facing the same challenge. We have had some success at our AMVETS with bringing in some Active Duty Airmen from Wright Patterson AFB so that has helped a great deal (not much help if you don't have an active installation in your back yard though).
We need to convey to the younger generation that these organizations are our voice in Washington and we need the membership numbers to remain high in order for our elected officials to take our issues to task.
I look forward to seeing if anyone else on here has any ideas!

Response by SSG Ed Mikus made May 21 at 2014 4:25 AM

2014-05-21T04:25:18-04:00

By reaching out to each other, from what i have seen most vets want to help each other, the common issue is they do not know how. How is by getting involved in each other’s lifes and finding out that their needs are, finding ways to heal each other and build the bond of brother-ship in a more tangible way.

Response by MSG Wade Huffman made May 21 at 2014 5:18 AM

2014-05-21T05:18:07-04:00

We have had the same issue with getting younger folks active at our Legion, AMVETS and VFW posts here.
Our AMVETS specifically has been doing better by bringing in more active duty (younger) members from Wright Patterson AFB. This push started with a simple sponsorship of an intramural softball team. We picked up 20 new members with that alone and about 1/2 of them are active. We have since sponsored bowling and youth sports teams with similar results. Granted, this won't help at all if you're not located near a base, but it did work well for us.

Response by SFC Rich Carey made May 21 at 2014 8:23 AM

2014-05-21T08:23:55-04:00

This problem is seen thoughout many service organizations, not just the military service organizations.

Is it time to move to virtual service organizations?

(Also, the smoking in a lot of these club houses is terrible. I dislike coming out and have to run home to take a shower and change my clothes)

Response by SFC Rich Carey made May 22 at 2014 9:03 AM

2014-05-22T09:03:04-04:00

Are we in an entitlement age, "What's in it for me?" era. Or is it because there are so many more activities to take part in today.

Response by SFC Dennis Aalid made Aug 17 at 2014 1:59 PM

2014-08-17T13:59:39-04:00

I think one of the ways to get more young veterans to join is make access easier. For example, a prime time is when they are separating and need assistance with job hunting and contacts. Also, we could offer sponsorship to provide help the first few months after separation. Another way would be to offer trial membership with a token dues amount of say $1 per month for 3-6 months. We could waive the dues or have a member or the post pay the dues for anyone who wants to participate, but is unemployed and can't afford the dues. Makes sure the soldiers separating find out about the organizations and exactly what they do in the community in a handout fact sheet during outprocessing/Transitioning.

Response by Cpl Clinton Britt made Feb 6 at 2015 5:52 AM

2015-02-06T05:52:10-05:00

In my VFW post it is full of older Vets. Every meeting its the same thing ararguing about money.

New Vet could bring in fresh ideas to bring in cash flow so We could better benefit our fellow Veterans

Response by SFC Randall Beat made Jun 25 at 2015 1:48 PM

2015-06-25T13:48:32-04:00

Hello "Brothers and Sisters in Arms",

I apologize now this will likely be a long post.

VSOs in general have a uphill battle against the current culture of our nation. VSOs were largely founded on an all but gone community culture that many veterans of previous conflict/wars shared. This is the reason most VSOs need to make changes to accommodate younger veterans, the old ways need to change with the culture.

Before I joined my local VFW almost 2 years ago, I did some research on the current status of VSOs and how they were fairing in the current national culture. What I found very quickly is that most if not all VSOs were shrinking in overall membership and many post were closing due to low membership and low activity.

I’ll give you a brief background about me to show you my prospective. I served 18 years US Army – Medical Discharged for lower back injury in the line of duty, 30% disability rating from VA, BA in Business Admin. – Marketing, MA in Business and Organizational Security Management.
I moved from Southern California to North Idaho in April of 2013. During that long drive I made a decision to be part of the community I live in rather than just live in the community. I decided months later to join the VFW in my community. So I looked up the nearest post and found via the website when there post meeting were. So I show up and as soon as I walk in the door, everyone in the room turns and looks at me. One of the members asked “Are you a member?” I replied “not yet”. I quickly got a reply “you cannot come in; this is a members only meeting”. I turned and left the room, a membered followed me out and gave me quick explanation why I was not allowed to attend and that he did not have time to see to making me a member right now. There were only about 10 members in the room and only one of them was below the age of 50. I came back on another day and paid my dues and became a “card carrying member”. From there I attend most of the VFW functions and quickly became a “pain in the arse” to many of the older members, with my new ideas and spitfire attitude.
Looking back I understand that many posts will come off with the good ol’ boy attitude, but sticking with it will often times overcome that built in culture. I also found that when I gave an idea that I needed to back it up with action and reap the respect from its success. Over the last 19 months, I have been given enough rope to hang myself and instead used that rope to make a bridge between the post and our community. Here are some of the new things our post has done in the last 18 months and the out comes from those events:
Hosted a Game convention in alliance with our local Game store
60 people attended and the event made the front page of the paper.

The post made over $18,000 dollars in donations and donated over $18,000 to veterans in our community. There were no 30% costs or administration fees put on this money. Every dime we were donated went back to the veterans in our community.
We supported Women Warrior Retreat and recruited several female veterans.
We planned and will hold our first Veteran Family Retreat this weekend, in hopes of making it an annual event.
From these events and activities I have learned that activity breeds activity. The older the average age of a post is the more difficult it will be to stay activity in the community. So recruiting members is and will always be the life blood of VSOs. If you are not getting new “younger” members, your post is effectively dying a slow death. As you all know many posts have a bar that at one point in time with the “best watering hole in town”. That watering hole is now all dried up! The younger veterans that would be considered the market for VSOs are in the stage of their life that they have kids and jobs, alcohol though legal is not the preferred method of building loyalty with a veteran family. In my opinion the posts that perpetuation the stereo typical of veterans wasting their days away drinking and smoking at the “Watering hole” is doing more damage to VSOs than anything else. VSOs must be active in their community or they will waste away.
Some of the ways a post can be active in its community are: providing a Veteran Family Retreat, putting on a month Family movie night, have a weekly coffee and donut (free) where all veterans are welcome. This is just a few ways to move in the right direction, I’m sure there are many more. I would enjoy hearing about them.
Since joining the VFW, I have been placed/voted into several positions: Post Jr Vice, Post Sr Vice, District QM and District Chief Recruiter, I also attended the state conventions, I decided to focus on my community rather than focus on trying to move up the chairs in district. As many of you know VSOs are a bureaucracy and that means “Red Tape” and paper work. After holding the positions, I understand the need for the paper work. My goal is to change my community’s view of the VFW and provide for the veterans in my community. VSOs are a community based organization and that being said they add value to their community or they will go away.

Thank you for taking the time to read this lengthy post and if you are in need of direction when it comes to a VSO please feel free to contact me.

Response by SPC Duncan Koebrich made Jan 24 at 2016 6:36 AM

2016-01-24T06:36:56-05:00

Looks like the Joint Staff is on to something here that your Legion could also take advantage of to appeal to younger Veterans.
http://warontherocks.com/2015/12/revitalizing-wargaming-is-necessary-to-be-prepared-for-future-wars/

Revitalizing Wargaming is Necessary to Be Prepared for Future Wars

Few historical periods match the dynamic technological disruption of the inter-war years of the 1920s and 1930s. During these decades, militaries the world