Yesterday IAVA represented our more than 425,000 members and supporters at the monthly Military Coalition meeting in Alexandria, Virginia. The Military Coalition (TMC), is the largest consortium of military and veterans organizations, of which IAVA has been a member of since 2014.

Together, the 33 organizations that comprise TMC represent more than 5.5 million members of the uniformed services–including active, reserve, retired, survivors, veterans, and their families. The purpose of TMC is to represent the interests of these 5.5 million members through partnership and collaboration. TMC can move as a large contingent to either force change for the betterment of the community or halt attacks when compensation and benefits earned by service members and veterans are at risk.

The TMC philosophy states it best: “By working together on issues of mutual agreement, the participating organizations can harness the grassroots support of more than 5.5 million members, plus their families, and accomplish far more than by working on these initiatives separately.”

Every month, TMC holds a meeting where all 33 member organizations gather to share information, discuss what actions should be taken on certain issues, and determine how best each organization can collaborate on the issues at hand. This month’s meeting centered around the committees within TMC—11 in all—that cover every topic in our community, ranging from healthcare to veterans to retirement to guard and reserve to survivors’ benefits and beyond.

Each committee has annual goals, put together at committee meetings with representatives from a cross-section of TMC itself. Not every TMC committee goal touches on IAVA policy priorities, but there are a few big goals for 2017 which IAVA will have a clear stake in. Those include continuing the push to institute many of the Commission on Care report’s recommendations; integrating VA care across the community; and for The Department of Defense to right the wrong of the California National Guard bonus scandal.

IAVA is proud to stand with the other 32 organizations of TMC who all share in our goal of making the lives of service members, veterans, and their families better and protect the benefits of all.

Look for another TMC update after the January 5, 2017 meeting!