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I am a life member of the VFW, but unfortunately that membership may be soon made moot for me as there's a legit danger that my local post will be shut down in the relatively near future.
The post consists predominately of Vietnam veterans, and they absolutely refuse to change with the times to encourage GWOT era veterans to join. Anytime our post commander formally makes a proposal to renovate our post, or conduct ANY kind of activity that is not bingo or poker the older members unanimously vote no. As it stands, the post does not offer much to the younger generation as an incentive to join, and as such nobody does.
It's a classic catch-22 situation.
The vast majority of these members have no presence within the VFW except to show up to a meeting when they know a vote is going to happen. As the post commander put it, they (the older obstinate members) are holding a gun to the posts head, and time will pull the trigger for them.
The only solution is to somehow get younger blood to join to get the numbers to vote in post saving measures. I'm posting this here to ask if anyone else is a member of the VFW that has experienced similar problems, and if so what methods did they use to save themselves? My posts charter is the oldest in the state of Kentucky, and it would be a shame to see it shut down due to what's practically suicide.
The post consists predominately of Vietnam veterans, and they absolutely refuse to change with the times to encourage GWOT era veterans to join. Anytime our post commander formally makes a proposal to renovate our post, or conduct ANY kind of activity that is not bingo or poker the older members unanimously vote no. As it stands, the post does not offer much to the younger generation as an incentive to join, and as such nobody does.
It's a classic catch-22 situation.
The vast majority of these members have no presence within the VFW except to show up to a meeting when they know a vote is going to happen. As the post commander put it, they (the older obstinate members) are holding a gun to the posts head, and time will pull the trigger for them.
The only solution is to somehow get younger blood to join to get the numbers to vote in post saving measures. I'm posting this here to ask if anyone else is a member of the VFW that has experienced similar problems, and if so what methods did they use to save themselves? My posts charter is the oldest in the state of Kentucky, and it would be a shame to see it shut down due to what's practically suicide.
Advice
Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)
Millennials
Edited 11 y ago
Posted 11 y ago
Responses: 9
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If we wan to fix an issue we do not run from it, we stand. The VFW has not had the best reputation but it is our turn. The new generation of Veterans can help make the improvements needed. Join your local VFW and make a difference.
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Did you see where there are VFW posts on school campus. Some old dogs can’t be taught new tricks. You are going to have to crest a counter culture. Be a recruiter- put a core group together. Do a fund raiser to pay for VFW memberships. Basically you need a coup. Some people made some good suggestions but to execut them you need a core group that wants the change. You may need to work outside the post initially till you get your troops ready to strike. It’s easier said than done. My wife told me she wanted to join this last weekend but she is not eligible cause she was a nurse and didn’t deploy so...you got to get the numbers to override the no votes.
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I understand where you're coming from and I'm a Vietnam era vet. When I was Commander of our local Legion post back in 2011 I tried to make changes to the post and activities that would attract younger vets but was met with immense resistance from the "establishment". I am now Commander again and the "establishment" has been moved to the back of the room. Our post is made up of 250 Vietnam or earlier veterans and 100 Post-Vietnam veterans (P-VE) with one Gulf War vet serving as Service Officer. Four weeks ago I sent an email to only the P-VE vets asking them to meet with me privately to discuss ideas on how to make the club a place they would want to visit. I explained to them that our youngest Vietnam vet is 61 and 59% are over 70 years old. I explained to them the opportunity we have right now, with the Centennial of the Legion being in 2019, to pass the torch to a new generation, their generation. I sent reminders accompanied with ideas. The evening came and I had one of the 100 show up. He was one of three who responded to my invitations, the other two at least were courteous enough to let me know they couldn't make it. They will never have another commander who is more interested in working with them to make the post theirs than I am. I realize that when you are young, you are busy with family and your occupation; I didn't become active until I was older either, but had I received a message such as I sent out, I would have attended the meeting. I'm proud to be a veteran, I'm proud to be a member of the American Legion and I'm proud to serve. What am I to do?
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I think you need to go to the meetings and try to get them to realize that if things do no t change then the post will be shut down. If they do not want to participate in some of the new things that is fine but they shouldn't keep the post from modernizing.
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SGT (Join to see)
It's been done. The post commander has had several "come to Jesus" speaches during meetings, but the old guard doesn't seem to care. They're of the mentality that if bingo and poker was good enough for them then it's got to be good enough for us, and be damned what anyone else says.
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SSgt Gregory Guina
Well I am not a member of the VFW but I am sure there are ways you can work around the old guard to get younger veterans there and let them do what they do. If you can get them there you can get them involved and make changes. Might have to get them prior to changes.
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SGT (Join to see)
If there was an easy way to work around the old guard I wouldn't have created this thread asking for advice. I'll spell this out again, point by point, since it seems I wasn't clear enough before.
- My post consists predominately of members age 50+.
- These same members have practically zero presence except when a vote happens.
- The post is dying because of inaction. No community service, nothing of value to bring new people in.
- Every action the post takes requires a majority consensus via a vote.
- This includes what are being described as "post saving measures." Measures that would bring in new blood.
- Non member veterans see that the post has very little to offer them, so they don't join, and therefore don't vote.
- Post commander proposes life saving measures, but consistently and unanimously gets voted down by older members.
- Catch-22 effect is strong.
So the question is basically how to get people to join, by offering them nothing. The purpose of this discussion topic is get advice from any other potential VFW members that have experienced similar issues, and how they saved themselves. Now do you see why comments like "I am sure there are ways you can work around the old guard to get younger veterans there and let them do what they do" don't help very much?
- My post consists predominately of members age 50+.
- These same members have practically zero presence except when a vote happens.
- The post is dying because of inaction. No community service, nothing of value to bring new people in.
- Every action the post takes requires a majority consensus via a vote.
- This includes what are being described as "post saving measures." Measures that would bring in new blood.
- Non member veterans see that the post has very little to offer them, so they don't join, and therefore don't vote.
- Post commander proposes life saving measures, but consistently and unanimously gets voted down by older members.
- Catch-22 effect is strong.
So the question is basically how to get people to join, by offering them nothing. The purpose of this discussion topic is get advice from any other potential VFW members that have experienced similar issues, and how they saved themselves. Now do you see why comments like "I am sure there are ways you can work around the old guard to get younger veterans there and let them do what they do" don't help very much?
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MSgt (Join to see)
When I was elected Commander two years ago, the membership wanted younger members to step up into the leadership roles. I was 31 as Commander, my Senior Vice was 30 and my Junior Vice was 44. We started off the year by developing a plan of what direction we wanted to take the post. We were a stagnant post that barely did anything in the community other than donate money to various organizations. We inserted ourselves into the school system to actively work with the youth at all levels. Got them to participate in VOD and Patriots Pen programs. We are actively working to get some of the high school kids to work projects with us to complete their required community service hours. We try to take advantage of getting articles in the paper of all the different projects we work, because then people see the members who are active are younger and active in their community and as an added bonus it is free advertising for your post. We still have our struggles with the younger generation of veterans, as the stigma is that of an organization for old people. We made some minor changes in the club like adding a credit card machine, turning all the lights on so it doesn't seem like the dark and dingy bar it used to be and added WIFI. There has to be a balancing act where you still provide the older generation of veterans the things they are used to and enjoy, while also inserting things that appeal to the other generations of veterans. We need to reach out to potential members and find out what their interests are and what they would like to get out of their membership. Show them their are people in the organization that want to be active and do a lot of fun activities and even involve the families. You don't need a majority vote to do community projects, you just need people willing to help do those community projects. One of my thoughts is that the younger generation is currently raising school age children and they want to be involved in their children's' lives. Why not do activities with those schools, so those veteran parents can help out with their kids school activities while also helping with VFW community projects. Maybe have the VFW partner with the PTO. Just some of my thoughts and experiences. Hope this helps trigger some new ideas. If it does and those ideas are successful, please share.
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Interesting as this was the exact same charge the Vietnam Veterans used against the World War II Veterans circa 1970's to 1980's and it really wasn't until the very late 1980's to 1990's that the Vietnam Veterans started to persuade and take over from the WWII Vets. Guess why? Many of the Vietnam Vets were too busy in college and with their families to join the VFW or American Legion as a working or active volunteer. Come the 1990's most of them started to enter into that period in their life where they had spare time for extra-ciricular activities..........then the pendulum swung in their favor. I think your going through the exact same thing with the GWOT Veterans. So I think you may need to wait another 5-10 years.
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I am a relatively "old" veteran in my mid 50s, have 28 years of service and been retired for 7 years. I am a baby boomer, but was a child when Vietnam ended. I've been a lifetime member of the VFW since 1991, but the last time I set foot in a VFW hall was 1992 as a young captain in Texas.
As a younger serviceman, I thought of the VFW as a place where old vets drank and smoked. I don't drink, nor do I smoke. Nor did I feel the need to reminisce about the old BDU days in the Army. So I didn't consider the VFW a place for me.
I didn't even bother to transfer my membership from the Texas VFW post to any near where I was stationed, including the place I retired at and have been living at for a decade. I work second shift now and get home around 1 AM so I would tend to miss any events that occur in evenings.
As a younger serviceman, I thought of the VFW as a place where old vets drank and smoked. I don't drink, nor do I smoke. Nor did I feel the need to reminisce about the old BDU days in the Army. So I didn't consider the VFW a place for me.
I didn't even bother to transfer my membership from the Texas VFW post to any near where I was stationed, including the place I retired at and have been living at for a decade. I work second shift now and get home around 1 AM so I would tend to miss any events that occur in evenings.
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Understand the problem and its universal in many vet groups- I'm a life member of VFW, Legion and DAV- seldom go to VFW anymore because of this problem. We had tax problems, hall falling down, big membership but only 12-15 show up. Got in to a disagreement at my last meeting- short money things needed fixing, taxes hammering us. Adjutant suggested raising prices on hard liquor, old timers hit roof, raised cain and voted it down. I said if we didn't fix this, then they would not have a hall to drink at all day, and thought I was going to have at least 3 fistfights. ( By the way I'm 66 and still considered by many as a young troublemaker). Those that seem to do better- cut down or out on the bar and smoking to make hall more "Family" friendly, do more family events and get connected to the community.
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