A Manatee County woman is breaking barriers in the Florida Veterans of Foreign Wars.
In June 2015, Amber Putnam, 54, will take over as the Senior Vice Commander of the Florida VFW. It'll be the first time a woman, or Manatee County resident, has held this title.
Putnam said she’s thrilled to get the opportunity.
"It's a big honor,” said Putnam. “It means I'll be leading our organization and our future efforts to reach out to the community and provide services to veterans."
Putnam currently belongs to the Palma Sola VFW in Bradenton. Her friends from the post said the title is well deserved.
"She's really there to help veterans and you can tell this when you talk to her," said Mike Clinesmith, the Quarter Master at the Palma Sola VFW.
Putnam, who now lives in Parrish, served 32 years in the Air Force.
She currently works as an administrative officer for Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.
Putname said when she takes over the commander role at the VFW, she plans on improving veterans services and strengthening the VFW. Her first order of business is getting younger veterans involved.
“Our big challenge is getting our young veterans in today's military, to get them involved, to get them interested in joining us,” she said. “The only way to do this is to offer things they're interested in and look more like them."
Putnam said most members are 60 years old and older, however, she said the services they offer are for every age group.
She hopes to make the VFW’s more family friendly to attract the younger members.
"If the people in my age group don't start stepping up and showing up for meetings and hosting events, and show ownership, by the time we really need an organization like this it might not be around for us," said Putnam.
For more information about joining the VFW, visit any local community post, or visit: www.myfloridavfw.org or www.vfw.org.