Veterans of Foreign Wars Commander

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Rachel Kocin
  • 49th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M.-- --  The Commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars, George Lisicki made his first visit to Holloman on May 14th.

As part of his visit he toured Detachment 1, 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron to see the QF-4 Phantom Drones and meet with the Lockheed personnel here.

Mr. Lisicki served in the U.S. Army from 1966-96. He was awarded the Bronze Star, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Good Conduct Medal and the National Defense Service Medal among others.

In 1971 he joined VFW Post 2314 in Carteret, N.J., where he became a life member in 1976. He was the first Vietnam veteran in Post 2314 to be elected Post Commander, an office he held for four terms. He was elected Commander-in-Chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in August 2007.

"The VFW is a veterans group, veteran's advocates," said Mr. Lisicki. "They were formed in 1899 when our military personnel came back from the Spanish-American war; they had no benefits and lost their jobs."

"The government didn't really take care of them, so a group of them formed the VFW to work for entitlements, for veterans benefits," said Mr. Lisicki. "The veterans just wanted the government to take care of our veterans and that's how the organization started."

Mr. Lisicki represents 1.7 million VFW members and acts as the spokesman for the organization. He travels around the country, visiting different VFW departments. There are 54 VFW departments, which include the 50 states and four overseas departments.

"It's quite an honor to hold this prestigious position and to have the opportunity to be the national commander of the largest command veteran's organization in the country," said Mr. Lisicki.

This position is held for one year and includes a large range of functions, such as working for a better way of life for the military. Other functions include lobbying for increases in military pay and increases in military benefits, such as the VA healthcare system; to make sure there is enough money to pay for veterans.

"The VFW's is an organization that helps all veterans get their benefits; we lobby congress and the senate, fight for medical and educational benefits," said Dan Teweleit, District 3 commander for New Mexico.