05/11/2026
Thank you Commander!!
Sisters and brothers, THIS IS WHY joining your local VFW, MATTERS!!
They are fighting for your benefits every single day, being the scenes and on the frontlines!!
If you arenât eligible for VFW, you can also join the auxiliary, the DAV or American Legion!!
Carol Whitmore is the first woman to lead the VFW, and she took command during one of the most chaotic years veterans have faced in a long time.
Carol Whitmore biggest priorities as the VFW National Commander are advocating for veterans, fighting claims sharks, repatriating the remains of POW/MIA, and highlighting the service of women. But she took command of the VFW at a turbulent time for veterans: a VA secretary accused of moving against veteransâ hard-won benefits, thousands of veterans facing foreclosure, and a membership base in slow decline.
Itâs a historic time, but sheâs accustomed to that. In August 2025, she was elected National Commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States. She is the first woman and first Iowan to lead the 126-year-old organization in its history.
But Whitmore has been making history for nearly 50 years. She enlisted in the Womenâs Army Corps in 1977, one of the final cohorts of the all-female military branch that would be disbanded the following year. She served 36 years in the Army, deployed to Iraq, and received the Legion of Merit and Bronze Star before retiring in 2013.
The VFW is a congressionally chartered veterans service organization representing approximately 1.3 million members across more than 5,500 posts worldwideâand Whitmore has the opportunity to make history once again by leading it through an uncertain era for veterans.
It wasnât long after her election to the VFWâs top post before there was a flashpoint for her constituency.
An interim final rule published by the VA on Feb 17, 2026, would have required medical examiners to factor in the effectiveness of medications or treatments when determining a veteranâs disability ratingâa change veteransâ advocates warned would slash compensation for hundreds of thousands of people who rely on medication to manage their conditions.
The VFW mobilized immediately.
âWe sent out over 20,000 emails to the secretary,â Whitmore said, âand he came to our conference personally and apologized for that and said, âI will rescind this immediately.ââ
VA Secretary Doug Collins formally rescinded the rule just 10 days after its publication.
âWhen you send out 20,000 emails to the VA Secretary, he sits up and takes notice,â she said. âHe told us his top three advisors were fired for advising him to do this.â
The issue Whitmore describes as her personal passion this year is the Major Richard Star Act. The legislation would end a longstanding offset that forces medically retired veterans (those discharged before 20 years due to combat-related injuries) to choose between their military retirement pay and their VA disability compensation rather than receiving both in full.
âTheyâre two different benefits, earned benefits for veterans,â the VFW National Commander said. âYet if youâre not 100% disabled, that money is offset, and you can only choose one. And that is completely unfair to a veteran.â
Whitmore says, probably one of the biggest responses the VFW gets when they ask a prospective member to join is âwhatâs in it for me?â
âThe Forever GI Bill, the PACT Act, and now going for the Major Richard Star Act,â she mentioned. âAdvocacy is by far the most unseen thing the public knows about what we do, and thatâs what we do. We advocate for every veteran, for every aspect of what a veteran deserves and needs.â
âWe were founded on the earned benefits that Washington did not follow through with after the Spanish-American War in 1899,â she added. âWeâre not going to take that. Our service officers are second to none.â
For all the legislative and institutional battles, Whitmoreâs identity remains rooted in something simpler.
âI told everybody Iâm a veteran first. I just happened to be female.â
Full story by Blake Stilwell found in the comments