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Fresh off of being selected as the next national commander at the American Legion’s 106th National Convention in Tampa, Florida, on Aug. 28, new American Legion National Commander Dan Wiley made Washington state one of his first stops on his nationwide introduction tour.
Wiley is currently traveling across the country to meet with American Legion district commanders to talk with them about the Legion’s upcoming federal Legislative agenda — including preventing veteran suicide — and hear about issues those within the districts are dealing with.
The Chronicle met Wiley on Tuesday, Sept. 2, as he toured the American Legion Department of Washington state headquarters in Lacey.
Having served in the U.S. Air Force as an administrative specialist from 1986 to 1990, Wiley joined for the same reason many do: to access tuition assistance to pay for college.
“I got married and finished two years of college and needed some way to continue to serve and provide for my family. So we joined, and wanted to continue our education also,” Wiley said.
He almost finished his bachelor’s degree while in the service, and actually didn’t opt into the Montgomery GI Bill as he thought he was done with higher education.
“And then I ended up going to law school,” Wiley added.
With his law degree, Wiley went on to serve as a judge for over three decades, including a stint starting in 2008 as a Kansas District Court judge.
There, he established the Leavenworth County Veterans Treatment Court, which is a 12-to-18-month voluntary treatment program for veterans charged with criminal offenses where upon completion of the program, the veteran’s charges are officially dismissed or expunged — much like the Lewis County Drug Court.
Now, as the new national commander, Wiley’s main focus for the upcoming federal Legislative session is pushing to help veterans who often find themselves in trouble with the law by improving veteran access to community care, especially in rural areas, and ending veteran homelessness.
Access to mental health care is also a major focus as on average, 22 veterans commit suicide daily across the nation.
“The statistics are that 50% of the general population who have a mental health crisis will never get mental health help. In the veteran community, that number is 75%,” Wiley said. “Three out of four veterans who have a mental health crisis will never seek help. And we have to change that, we have to raise awareness. We have to let them know it’s OK not to be OK, and it’s OK to need help. Part of the problem is in the military, we’re trained to suck it up and pull yourself up by your bootstraps. That sounds good, but it’s not reality and it’s not healthy.”
Along with ending veteran suicide being one of the Legion’s major legislative goals, the Legion has also created the Be The One program, which offers both veterans, their family members and friends free training to identify signs of mental health struggles and possible suicidal ideations, along with resources to get help with treatment and counseling.
To learn more about this program, visit the American Legion’s website at betheone.org.
Aside from the continued mission to end veteran suicide and veteran homelessness along with improving veterans access to health care, some of the Legion’s other Legislative goals include:
• Bettering the quality of Department of Veterans Affairs compensation and pension exams
• Modernizing transition assistance programs for service members re-entering civilian life
• Full accountability of service members still listed as prisoners of war or missing in action
• Protecting U.S. Coast Guard pay and entitlements
• Border security and ensuring a robust state department budget
• Improving quality of life for the families of active duty service members
Legion representatives including Wiley will be testifying before the U.S. Congress soon to advocate for these issues.
For more information on the American Legion’s federal Legislative agenda, visit the Legion’s website at https://www.legion.org/advocacy/legislative.
