LZ:DC: Sons of AMVETS Take to Capitol Hill

This morning, AMVETS' week of advocacy in Washington, "LZ:DC," will commence when the Sons of AMVETS land on Capitol Hill, meeting with legislators, advocating for American service members, veterans and their families.

Armed with AMVETS Legislative Priorities for 2011, the Pennsylvania Sons of AMVETS will be the first to hit the halls of Congress, meeting with Rep. Chaka Fattah, D-Pa., at 10 a.m.

The Pennsylvania Sons have more than a dozen meetings scheduled this week with the Pennsylvania Congressional delegation and a special award presentation to Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pa., taking place tomorrow afternoon.

Sons of AMVETS National Commander Robert Hammett, a life member of the Indiana Sons, is already on the ground in Washington and plans join the Pennsylvania contingency for their early meetings.

Each year, the Sons of AMVETS come to Washington in force to advocate for veterans and their loved ones. The Capitol Hill visits coincide with the testimony of the AMVETS National Commander before a special joint hearing of the House and Senate committees on Veterans Affairs, where AMVETS officially presents its legislative priorities for the coming year.

AMVETS National Commander Jerry Hotop will present AMVETS' legislative agenda tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. in the Senate Derksen Ground Room 50. For details about the hearing, Click Here.

Last year, the Sons of AMVETS conducted more than 120 meetings with legislators, and Hammett said this year they plan to surpass that mark.

For this year's visits, the Sons also recruited support from AMVETS and the AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary to cover more ground on the hill.

Every year, members of AMVETS, the AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary, the Sons of AMVETS and AMVETS Riders converge on the nation’s capitol for four days of advocacy on behalf of American military families, memorial events to honor the fallen, organizational business, and the annual AMVETS Silver Helmet Awards, honoring champions of veterans’ service from across the country. This year, AMVETS has given this week a name that captures the urgency and scale of the mission: LZ:DC.

“LZ” is the common military acronym for a helicopter “landing zone”—a place where forces can be quickly inserted into the forward-most areas of the battle space. This week, AMVETS' LZ is Capitol Hill.

American Veteran will follow LZ:DC and the Sons of AMVETS Capitol Hill advocacy closely, bringing you updates from each day's events. Each Sons of AMVETS Department participating in LZ:DC will also be sending in photos and highlights as they happen, which we will include on the blog and on the AMVETS National Web site.

To learn more about LZ:DC, Click Here.

Fall NEC Highlights: Camp Hope, Healing Heroes, Riders & Sons

This weekend AMVETS hosted its fall meeting of the AMVETS National Executive Committee at the Hilton Washington Dulles Hotel in Herndon, Va. Representatives from the six AMVETS national districts and 48 departments came together to tend to the regular business of the organization.

Below is video from AMVETS National Commander Jerry Hotop's NEC report, calling for support to his national program, Camp Hope, the wounded warrior outdoor retreat in Hotop's home state of Missouri founded by Gold Star father William White in honor of his fallen son, Marine Pfc. Christopher Neal White.



In addition to the requisite reports from each organizational leader, AMVETS heard from leaders across the AMVETS family of organizations.

AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary Past National President Patty Piening presented a $25,000 check to AMVETS Healing Heroes, the national project for her term in office last year.

AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary National President Dee Kreiling also introduced her national program for the coming year, Sharing & Caring, which she discusses in the fall issue of American Veteran.

AMVETS Riders National President Victor "Dutch" Stivason asked for the NEC's support in applying uniform standards for the fledgling Riders organization to ensure compliance with the Confederation of Clubs, or CoC, the sanctioning body for motorcycle riding groups.

Sons of AMVETS National Commander Robert Hammett and AMVETS Department of California Commander Charles Ramos signed the charter for the new Sons of AMVETS squadron at California AMVETS Post No. 113.

Finally, AMVETS welcomed other special guests, Choice Hotels, University of Phoenix and the pilot veterans' benefits IT solution, TurboVet.

TurboVet is a web-based data exchange system designed by Stratizon which could enable VA, claims service officers, and veterans to easily process benefits claims, potentially replacing the cumbersome paper-based process. The commonwealth of Virginia and AMVETS Department of Virginia are working closely with Stratizon on the implementation of TurboVet, learning how to best integrate the data-exchange system with the current VA claims process.

University of Phoenix, which currently offers $350,000 in scholarships to veterans and their families through its partnership with AMVETS, also announced an additional ten percent tuition discount for AMVETS members.

Choice Hotels, an AMVETS partner which offers room discount rates for AMVETS members, also discussed potential entrepreneurship opportunities for veterans interested in the hospitality industry.

(Images: Top: Nebraska NEC Representative Albert Christner delivers his report to the floor of the AMVETS Fall NEC. Middle: Past National Commander Jimmy T. Smith accepts the $25,000 donation to AMVETS Healing Heroes from Past National President Piening. Bottom Right: AMVETS Riders President Stivason discusses the proposed uniform standards while Cmdr. Hotop display's Stivason's regulation Riders vest. Bottom Left: Sons of AMVETS National Commander Hammett and AMVETS Department of California Commander Ramos review the new charter for the Sons squadron at Post 113. Photos by Ryan Gallucci.)