One VFW: Europe Sets the Pace for the Organization

Why One VFW Matters More Than Boundaries or Geography

What Europe’s Membership Milestone Signals for Leadership

Waking up early and checking the membership report is not something most people would call inspiring.

This morning, it gave me hope.

As of this morning, the Department of Europe is sitting at 99.75 percent membership, just 48 members away from reaching the 100 percent mark. Barring something unexpected, this will be the week Europe becomes the first Department to reach 100 percent membership in the 2025–2026 year.

That matters. Not simply because of a milestone, but because of what it says about commitment, focus, and leadership that stays engaged when the work is no longer new.

What Europe is about to accomplish deserves recognition. It also deserves reflection.

The Department of Europe’s progress is a reminder that we serve one VFW. Conferences and Departments help organize our work, but they do not define who we are. When one Department moves forward, the entire organization benefits. That mindset, supporting and celebrating success across boundaries, is a leadership responsibility and a reflection of what one VFW truly means.

What 100 Percent Really Represents

Reaching 100 percent membership means matching your starting-year total.

You hold the line.

You keep veterans connected.

You refuse to accept quiet erosion.

That level of consistency takes discipline. It takes attention. It takes leaders and members who understand that retention is not secondary work. It is core work.

The Department of Europe has demonstrated exactly that.

Structure Is Helpful. Unity Is Foundational.

Conferences and Departments exist for a reason. They provide structure. They help leadership function. They allow the organization to operate at scale.

But structure is not identity.

You do not serve a Conference first.

You do not belong to a Department first.

You are a member of one VFW.

When one Department succeeds, the organization moves forward. Europe’s progress is not a regional achievement. It belongs to every member who cares about the future of this organization.

When the Lines Shift

History makes this clear. Our forefathers did not serve a region. They served one nation, under God.

More recently, OIF, OEF, and OND veterans served without a clearly defined front line. Threats shifted. Missions overlapped. Responsibility followed people, not maps.

Service adapted because it had to.

Leadership must do the same.

Boundaries Are Administrative, Not Defining.

Geography helps organize effort. It does not define who matters.

Membership strength in Europe strengthens the VFW everywhere. Progress in one Department raises expectations across the entire organization.

When success is treated as something owned by a Conference label or a boundary line, the point is missed. The VFW does not advance in pieces. It advances together.

A Milestone Worth Celebrating Everywhere

The Department of Europe reaching 100 percent will be a milestone worth celebrating across the entire Veterans of Foreign Wars.

From Rhode Island, our smallest Department by membership, to Texas, our largest, this moment belongs to every member, every Post, every District, every Department, and every Conference. Europe’s success does not sit overseas or within a single Conference. It resonates across Posts, Districts, and Departments everywhere.

"Boundaries help us organize our work, but they do not define who we are. We serve one VFW."

Some Departments are only steps away. Others are pushing through larger numbers. All are engaged in the same effort. When Europe crosses the line, it should be felt across the organization as proof that sustained focus matters and that progress in one place raises the standard for us all. Leaders at every level have a responsibility to recognize these moments, support one another across boundaries, and reinforce that success anywhere strengthens the VFW everywhere.

What Europe’s Moment Signals

Europe reaching 100 percent sets a tone.

It shows what happens when leaders stay focused past the early push.

It shows what happens when members stay engaged.

It shows what is possible when accountability is steady and shared.

That standard applies everywhere.

This Is About All Members

Leadership should never be about where a name appears on a cover or which Conference a Department falls under.

It should be about every member who raised their hand.

Every veteran who chose to stay connected.

Every Post, District, and Department doing the work.

Progress in one place is not a favor to others. It is a responsibility shared by all.

The Week Ahead

Other Departments are close. Momentum is building.

This is the moment to rally.

To support.

To share what works.

To recognize effort before the finish line is crossed.

Not as competitors.

As teammates.

One VFW

The Department of Europe reaching 100 percent will be a milestone worth celebrating.

It is also a reminder.

We serve one VFW.

Just as those before us served one nation.

Just as today’s veterans served without fixed lines.

If the front line can shift, so can our mindset.

One organization.

One mission.

One standard.

That is how the Veterans of Foreign Wars moves forward.