Veteran are embedded at every level of the public and private sectors of society!

VFW Post 8337 - Private Sector Liaisons

Private sector liaisons provide immediate 24/7, closed loop feedback to incident commanders which helps ensure an appropriate first response to any life threatening incident. They're also well positioned to provide event and contingency planners with  threat assessments before, incident reports during, and process improvements after each event. Private sector liaisons also provide a cost effect way for us to field test our emergency response and recovery policies, procedures, and protocols from anywhere we can establish an internet connection.  To make sure all liaisons are on on-board and on-the-same-page, please read the following:

The US military enlists troops from every level of society and every corner of our country. It therefore follows that veterans are embedded at every level of the public and private sectors of our society. Seven VFW Post 8337 liaisons provide a "closed-loop" communications link between our Post 8337 and the community (Liberty Grove), county (Door), and country (USA) we serve. There are three Post 8337 liaisons with the public sector (Law Enforcement, Emergency Government with Fire Fighters, and Legislature) who report monthly on public sector initiatives requiring support from the private sector. And, four Post 8337 liaisons with the private sector (Homeland Security/Contingency Planning, Health/Safety,  History/Patriotism, and Chaplain/Trauma Management). The seven liaisons form our post's "unified" Incident Command during a terrorist attack, natural or man-made disaster, pandemic, or large scale community crisis. 

Note form the Commander:  Al Qaida has franchised their operations with the expressed intention to embed operatives anywhere there is a disgruntled citizen, social or political extremist, depressed or angry youth, or anyone looking for a cause focused on attacking and destroying the economic infrastructure of any open and free society.   Across the nation, there is a movement of collaboration between government, businesses, and non-profit organizations to ensure that communities are safe, secure, and economically robust.   Government seeks these partnerships as an opportunity to utilize private sector resources to mitigate the impact of critical incidents, engage in pre-planning with businesses for continuity of operation planning (COOP), and strengthen relationships with the private sector.  The business community supports these partnerships, as it benefits their short and long term strategic planning, enhances their level of emergency preparedness, and strengthens their relationship  with government entities and officials.

 

VFW Post 8337 Liaisons (June 2008 - July 2009)
Duties and Responsibilities	Post 8337 Liaison
Post Commander: Acts as liaison between fellow VFW Post commanders in District 8, Wisconsin, and Nationally. The commander promotes joint operations to test contingency plans and emergency response protocols, negotiates mutual aid agreements between VFW Post 8337 and other VFW posts as well as the American Legion, AMVET, and Marine Corp League posts in Door County;
	VFW Post 8337 Commander:  Rich Woldt
Law Enforcement Liaison: Primary responsibility is to act as liaison between VFW Post 8337 and local law enforcement to include Door County Sheriff and Sturgeon Bay Chief of Police. Duties include acting as VFW Post 8337 "Liaison Officer" during any private sector "Unified" command. This includes identifying and logging in law enforcement personnel to the EOC and staging areas.
	Vice Commander:          Davis Sitte
Fire Fighter & Emergency Government Liaison: Primary responsibility is to act as liaison between VFW Post 8337, our Liberty Grove Fire Chief and Director of Door County Emergency Government.  Duties include identifying and logging in all firefighters and emergency first responders into our "private sector" Incident Command EOC, staging areas, and mobile Command Posts.  Also acts as Post' Health/Safety liaison with the private sector.
	Post 8337 Surgeon Doctor Owen Larson
Legislature Liaison: Primary responsibilities include acting as liaison between VFW Post 8337 and our State and Local Government Representatives. Duties include identifying and logging in all government officials into our "private sector" Incident Command EOC, staging areas, and mobile Command Post. Also functions as Post' Homeland Security/Contingency Planning Liaison, overseeing Homeland Security projects as they relate to creating public-to-private partnerships and "unified" commands during the next terrorist attack, natural or man-made disaster, pandemic, or large scale community crisis.
	John Mahoney acts as Post 8337 liaison with all levels of government to include the Liberty Grove Town Board, Door County Board of Supervisors, State and National legislators.
History & Patriotism Liaison: Purple Heart recipient and retired Gibraltar High School teacher and guidance councilor George Erickson acts as our Post' History & Patriotism Liaison. Together with Ladies Auxiliary member and wife Annett, they oversee our Voice of Democracy and Patriot's Pen contests, our youth scholarship programs. George is also our liaison with Purple Heart and Medal of Honor recipients.
Chaplain Liaison: Our Post Chaplain acts as the liaison with our faith-based community which includes maintaining contacts with all priests, ministers, rabbis, etc. and chaplains for other veteran' posts in Door County.
	Chaplain - 2007 - 2008 Leo Du Charme
Media Liaison: Acts as liaison with the media to include news papers, radio and television stations, and  news agencies on the local, state, and national level.. Acts as "Information Officer" during a unified command.
	Don Jensen
VFW Post 8337 priority goals for 2008 include: Focus VA budgets on meeting veteran health care needs, correcting flaws in benefit and compensation programs, and streamlining the claims settlement process. Ensure our active-duty, National Guard and Reserve troops receive increased pay, affordable health care, and adequate housing and work facilities for themselves and their families. Promote veteran employment and education through a comprehensive GI Bill for the 21st century. Enlist veterans in the war on terrorism and mobilize effort to support U.S. troops, their mission fighting terrorism, their need for increased and timely funding to fight the war, need to take decisive, preemptive, and offensive global action, secure U.S. borders, shorelines and all ports of entry, and halt the flow of illegal immigration. Defend and protect our homeland: Support increased defense spending to fund all needed weapons programs, personnel initiatives and troop end-strength requirements, urge the continued development of a ballistic missile defense system, halt the development and/or proliferation of nuclear weapons or materiel by North Korea, secure Europe through the continued expansion of NATO, and investigate the 1967 Israeli attack on the USS Liberty. Actively promote military affairs that seek to improve the quality of life for all active-duty, National Guard and Reserve troops and their families, provide a military base-pay raise to restore full compatibility with private-sector wages, support efforts to lower the Guard and Reserve retirement pay age to 55, oppose any TRICARE fee increases. Launch new efforts to capture our history, promote our traditions, encourage patriotism in our schools, achieve the fullest possible accounting of all U.S. POWs and MIAs from all wars, ensure the U.S. government keeps the POW/MIA issue elevated as a national priority, urge the President and Congress to fully fund the Joint POW/MIA accounting Command through a dedicated single-line item appropriation in the Defense budget, and support all POW/MIA public awareness initiatives.