It was his first time visiting Wyoming.
For American Legion National Commander Brett P. Reistad, it may be a year of firsts.
Since his election on Aug. 30, 2018, at the American Legion National Convention, Reistad has been traveling.
Reistad said he will travel 350 days out of the year as National Commander and he only had one break, which already took place around Christmas.
“I will visit hopefully every state,” Reistad said. “My family accepts what I am doing. My wife is my greatest advocate and supporter.”
Over the Easter weekend, Reistad was busy seeing all Southwest Wyoming had to offer, including touring a trona mine and seeing first hand how cattle branding takes place.
When he wasn’t busy on tours, he was attending events the American Legion Posts were hosting, conducting interviews will local media representatives and attending meetings. Each day is jam-packed with scheduled events Reistad will attend. Reistad said he usually visits most states for two to three days and then he leaves for the next one.
In order to do all of this traveling, Reistad requested a leave of absence from the Regional Organized Crime Information Center of the Regional Information Sharing Systems Program, which is a congressionally funded law enforcement investigative assistance program of the U.S. Department of Justice. This is Reistad’s second law-enforcement career after he retired as Lt. from the Fairfax County Police Department.
Reistad described Wyoming as “a beautiful landscape.”
“It’s very different from what I’ve seen so far,” he said.
His aide Ken Knight makes sure Reistad poses for pictures and stays on the schedule for each state and community he visits. All the while, Reistad is promoting the American Legion’s Centennial and the theme of “Celebrating Our Legacy.”
“Our members need to know where we’ve been to know where we are going,” Reistad said.
Doug Uhrig, American Legion Commissioner for District 3, said prior to being elected Reistad campaigned for two years, which included him traveling to numerous states.
All of this campaigning was a way for Reistad to find out what local American Legion members want.
For Reistad, serving as the National Commander was never something he planned on doing.
“This was not something that was ever on my radar screen,” Reistad said.
Even though Reistad has served at every level of the American Legion and is the past president and honorary life member of the National American Legion Press Association, he didn’t expect this to happen.
Reistad recently completed a six-year appointment as chairman of the Department Legislative Committee and two three-year terms as a gubernatorial appointee to the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Joint Leadership Council of Veterans Service Organizations, where he helped coordinate the input of 23 VSOs in crafting veteran friendly legislation and advocating the proposed legislation before the governor and General Assembly. It was under this capacity that his name was discussed as a possible candidate for the National Commander.
Reistad said when he was asked if he would consider running, he was honored. Even though he was unopposed, he made sure to campaign as much as he could so he could personally here what American Legion Clubs across the country wanted.
“Each post has it’s own flavor,” he said. “They have their own priorities. The local posts of the American Legion is where the work gets done.”
Richard Dansereau, Wyoming’s American Legion Commander, said the members drive what the organization does. It’s a real from the bottom up organization. Dansereau said Reistad acts as the American Legion’s representative in Congress.
Uhrig said he testifies to Congress about what’s important to the 2 million plus American Legion members. One area he was successful in wan ensuring Coast Guard members received $800,000 from the temporary assistance program when the federal government shut down.
Reistad said he also visited with members of Congress to make sure the Coast Guard isn’t left out of funding should another federal government shut down occur again.
About Reistad
Reistad is a resident of Manassas, Va., and is life member and past commander of Post 270 in McLean. The Department of Virginia reached an all-time high in membership, while he served as department (state) commander from 2005 to 2006.
Reistad’s Legion membership eligibility is through his honorable Vietnam War-era service (1974-78) as an active-duty U.S. Army infantryman, where he served with the Presidential Salute Battery of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, the Old Guard, at historic Fort Myer, Va. He participated in the Inaugural ceremony for President Carter and other high-profile ceremonies. He has since been honored as a Distinguished Member of the Regiment.
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