We, the veterans and service members of AVP, pursue courses of action that support veterans and families that align with one or more of our foundational principles.
Constitution: Our Constitutional liberties are under threat. A federal government that has subsumed an ever increasing share of the American economy demonstrates a troubling trend towards deferring to the executive branch the authority to unilaterally infringe upon our Constitutionally protected rights. As individuals who swore an oath to this document, it is incumbent upon us to engage in all legal, moral, and ethical means available to advocate for and promote these freedoms. This is especially critical for service members and veterans whose voices provide invaluable insights with respect to the relevance of the Constitution in sustaining our nation's security and the American way of life.
Community: There is a growing divide in the standard of living between private citizens and federal employees, including members of the Armed Services and those entitled to VA benefits. This is occurring in an environment where the narrative that we sacrifice to fight for the freedom of all Americans is undermined by our longest war ending in embarrassment and disaster. In order to maintain harmonious relationships between service members, veterans, and the American public, concerted efforts to better integrate military installations with their surrounding communities with a focus on building genuine interpersonal connections are warranted. Additionally, opportunities to improve VA benefit quality while maintaining equivalent, or even decreasing taxpayer burden should be investigated, pursued, and advertised.
Conservation: The pay, benefits, and lives of Service Members are at the mercy of politicians. While our members have special insights into waste, fraud, and abuse in the context of military spending, all federal spending has the potential to erode the purchasing power of VA benefits and retirements earned with millions of person-years of toil under austere conditions. This organization will endeavor to incentivize politicians to employ federal resources responsibly. Additionally, we will aim to promote politicians that approach calls for intervention abroad with skepticism. We feel this is appropriate in the wake of decades of failure to produce meaningful results from Vietnam to Afghanistan. Costs in lives and treasure in the millions and trillions must be justified with clearly articulated benefits to the American people. To earn the endorsement of AVP, politicians and political candidates must be able to articulate how they will conserve the benefits of veterans and the lives of service members in this manner.
