22Apr
WASHINGTON – In 2025, Common Defense veterans showed what organized, grassroots movements can achieve in the face of darkness. Across the country, our members stepped up, proving that our oath does not end at your time of service, instead the fight to defend democracy, fight against rising authoritarianism, and end forever wars continues until the mission is accomplished.
Nationally, we mobilized veterans coast to coast for Veterans Day actions alongside Public Citizen, bringing veteran voices into the public fight for accountability in our institutions. Our members continued to show up in moments that mattered, pushing back on efforts to politicize the military and misuse our service for partisan gain. When our longtime member Dana Briggs was unlawfully detained by ICE, Common Defense stood proudly with him to pressure local officials to drop his charges.
On the state level in North Carolina, veterans led with service. We organized a Veteran Stand-down in Fayetteville that connected more than 100 veterans and military family members with direct support, from healthcare access to state-level resources. We trained new organizers alongside Red Wine and Blue, hosted a Veteran Town Hall with Rep. Deborah Ross at a historic Black church in Raleigh, and built deeper relationships between veterans and trusted community partners.
In Arizona, Common Defense veterans shaped the conversation at all levels of government. Members traveled to Washington, DC to work with the ACLU on the Stop Politicizing the Military campaign, joined the Latino Business Caucus to confront veteran deportations, and participated in policy roundtables with Rep. Jason Crow and Congressional candidate Amish Shah centered on better serving veterans. Our members were invited to serve on veteran advisory boards for Senators and Members of Congress to bring veteran voices directly into the policymaking process and help shape solutions from the start, especially as institutions protecting veterans are under attack.
In the press, we appeared in places like CNN, The Hill, USA Today, Mother Jones, The Grio, The American Prospect, Military Times, and Democracy Now! to local outlets like Arizona Central and Georgia 11 News where veterans called out Trump’s repeated disrespect toward veterans and military families,
These wins didn’t happen by accident. They happened because veterans organized, took risks, and refused to stay silent. As we head into 2026, the work continues. We need more veterans ready to lead, more communities organized, and more pressure on those who would undermine democracy or abandon veterans once the cameras are off. If you’re a veteran who believes service doesn’t end when the uniform comes off, now is the time to step in.
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Common Defense Civic Engagement (501c4) (CDCE) is a grassroots, veteran-led organization that was founded in 2016. We empower veterans to stand up for our communities against the rising tide of racism, hate, and violence, to organize against the entrenched powers that have rigged our economy, and to champion an equitable and representative democracy, where “liberty and justice” truly is for all. For too long, politicians from both political parties have attempted to use veterans as unwilling political props, and Common Defense serves as a home for veterans to organize and speak for themselves and support the candidates who truly share our values.