AMVETS
National Headquarters
Official Website
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National Leadership
National Officers
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National Commander
Sandy Vorhies (OH)
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National First
Vice Commander​​​​
Christopher Studebaker (IL)​
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National Second
Vice Commander
Sheldon Hartsfield (MO)
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National Third
Vice Commander
A.J. John (FL)​
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National Judge Advocate
Frederick Bates (GA)
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National Finance Officer
Kelly McFarlain (LA)
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National Provost Marshal
Mike Davis (IN)
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National Finance Committee Members
NEC Lee Ann Adams (TN)
PNC Bill Clark (NC)
PNC Greg Heun (KY)​​
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National Districts
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District I
Dana Dillon (CT)
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District II
Bruce Rice (MD)
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District III
Jeff Fletcher (AL)
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District IV
Richard Shea (IL)
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District V
Clay Roundtree (TX)
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District VI
Jeff Luken (CA)​
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National Appointees
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National Chaplain
Jeremiah Botkin (GA)
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National Inspector General
Joe Ashman (NY)
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National VAVS Rep
Bobby Lumpkins (TX)​
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National Deputy
Judge Advocate
Ross Smith (CA)
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National Committees
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National HQ Staff
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Executive Director
Joe Chenelly
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Membership Director
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Service Director
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Programs Specialist
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National Controller
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Public & Media Relations
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AMVETS National Commander Sandy Vorhies
National Commander Sandy Vorhies was elected to the organization’s highest office by his peers in August 2026 at the AMVETS National Convention in Orlando, Florida. She is a U.S. Army Veteran.
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Commander Vorhies has been an active, dedicated member of AMVETS for more than 30 years, steadily rising through the organizational ranks.​​​ She is a Past Department Commander of Ohio and belongs to AMVETS Post 1928 in Columbus, Ohio.
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National Executive Director Joseph R. Chenelly
Joseph R. Chenelly was appointed national executive director of AMVETS in May 2016. In this capacity, he administers the policies of AMVETS, supervises its national headquarters operations and provides direction, as needed, to state and local components. Joe previously served as AMVETS’ national communications director.
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Joe Chenelly is the first veteran of combat operations in the Global War on Terrorism to lead one of the nation’s four largest veterans service organizations’ staffs. A native of Rochester, N.Y., Joe enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1998, serving with the 1st Marine Division, and was honorably discharged in April 2006. He is a combat veteran of Operation
Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, having served in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Kuwait, East Timor and the Horn of Africa.​
Joe became a veterans advocate, a journalist, and a political adviser after his time in uniform. He covered military and veterans matters on staff with Leatherneck magazine, the Military Times newspapers, USA TODAY and Gannet News, reporting on operations in the Middle East, Southwest Asia, Africa, as well as disaster relief in the United States.
Joe was named one of the 100 “most influential journalists covering armed violence” by Action on Armed Violence in 2013. He was the first U.S. Marine combat correspondent to step into enemy territory after September 11, 2001, as a military reporter in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He also reported from the front-lines with American and allied forces in Kuwait and Iraq as that war began. He was on the ground for the start of both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Joe served as AMVETS’ national communications director in 2005-2007, and for eight years as assistant national director for communications for the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) in Washington, D.C., leading grassroots efforts through social networking and new media.
He has also served as president of Social Communications, LLC; a public affairs officer director for the Department of Navy; and and an elected member of the Calvert County (MD) Board of Education. Joe is an alumni of Syracuse University and Central Texas College. He resides in Fairport, N.Y., with his wife Dawn, a service-connected disabled Air Force veteran, and their five children.
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