There is a quiet tension running through the post-9/11 combat generation. Many of us walked off aircraft from Fallujah, Kandahar, Mosul, and Helmand and stepped straight into legacy organizations that were supposed to represent us, only to realize we did not recognize ourselves in the room nor agree with those officers in Washington.

 

The legacy old 'guard built institutions in a different era, for a different fight, with rigid frameworks and cultural assumptions that no longer reflect the realities of modern combat veterans. Headquarters speaks one language while field posts live another. National leaders negotiate in closed rooms while local members are left guessing where donations go and what is said in their name on Capitol Hill. The ideological distance has grown wide enough that many members simply disengage...being seen live across the Nation.

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Combat Veterans of America was born in that gap. We started simple. Our members do not serve individuals, boards, or hidden agendas. We exist to serve combat veterans and to reclaim their identity on the Hill. That means transparent national leadership, clear and honest lobbying disclosures, clean and accurate IRS records, and open communication with our members. It means policy shaped from the ground up, not handed down from a distant headquarters that has lost touch with the field.

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The modern combat veteran carries a different set of burdens and expectations than generations before. When their unique voices are filtered through outdated structures, partisanship, and special interests, they are softened, redirected, or overwritten entirely.

 

CVOA exists to prevent that from happening. We are here to give combat veterans their voice back, to advocate for their evolving interests without distortion, and to ensure that the generation who carried the longest war is finally represented.