*This report was replaced in its entirety by the Department of Veterans Services on December 11, 2025.

In 2025, the Virginia Department of Veterans Services (DVS) remained committed to its mission of making Virginia the best state in the nation for veterans and their families to live, work, and thrive. DVS communications throughout the year emphasized transparency, responsiveness, and a deep respect for military service, while expanding access to benefits, programs, and community support.

DVS significantly expanded its community outreach in 2025, responding to a far too common unfamiliarity among transitioning service members, veterans and families that are unaware of state programs and initiatives to provide support. The department hosted veterans’ events and engagements across the Commonwealth, from its 51 locations across Virginia, to community centers, VFW and American Legion Posts, to state parks and state fairs. DVS also hosted numerous veteran job fairs, including the Richmond Veterans Benefits and Resource Fair, which served more than 1,300 attendees. It also promoted the Virginia Has Jobs Initiative, which highlighted over 250,000 job openings and connected veterans with Virginia Values Veterans (V3) partner employers. We have extended partnerships with American Corporate Partners and Virginia State and Regional Chambers of Commerce to co-sponsor employment initiatives for veterans and spouses. Additionally, DVS supported Military Signing Day and ROTC recruitment efforts, celebrating young Virginians who chose to enter military service. The department continues to encourage community feedback and invites veterans to share ideas and request DVS participation in local events.

Virginia’s Benefits and Claims personnel continue to deliver nation-leading assistance to hundreds of thousands of veterans and their families, enabling their earned benefits for their service and sacrifices. DVS Veterans and Families Services have extended services, partnerships, and grant programs to assist those veterans and families suffering from addiction, homelessness, food insufficiently, PTSD, despair, or suicidal ideation. They have redoubled their programs to support and address the needs of justice involved veterans and their efforts to transition to a better life and contributing status in our communities.

Over the last 24 months, we have added two new Veteran Care Centers, nearly doubling the skilled nursing and memory care programs and access we offer to eligible veterans in each region of our state. These are significant investments in the care of veterans that have given so much to our Nation and Virginia’s communities. Our three State Veterans Cemeteries continue to receive national recognition for excellence in their most honorable services and care for our deceased veterans and spouses. I would recommend that we develop long-term outlook efforts (e.g. 20 year projections) in order to continue similar investments for the future care and honor of our veterans and families across the Commonwealth.

To honor the service and sacrifice of Virginia’s veterans, DVS led several commemorative events throughout the year. These included Memorial Day ceremonies at four state cemeteries and the Virginia War Memorial, the launch of the inaugural “Say Their Names Marathon" which honored nearly 12,000 fallen Virginians, and observances for Vietnam War Veterans Day, Women Veterans Week, Patriot Day (9/11), and POW/MIA Recognition Day. DVS also partnered with the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission to celebrate the 250th anniversaries of the U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps. These events underscored the department’s commitment to remembrance, education, and fostering intergenerational awareness of military service.

One of the biggest lessons that I have learned during my tenure as Commissioner is the evolving nature of need and challenge facing each generation of veterans. The demands are many; the lessons from this latest generation and the near quarter-century of conflict and continuous deployments to regions of war, loss of life, and life altering consequences for both service members and their families. To serve these and future generations of service men and women, and their families, DVS needs to continue to work more than ever to be connected. Outreach and communication, up to two years prior to retirement or separation from service is an imperative. Staying connected through multiple communication modes and technologies, and into their communities to provide them support and services where they live, work and thrive. The four-year effort to establish the Virginia Veterans Network (VVN) was visionary and has emerged as a cornerstone of DVS’s digital transformation efforts; thank you Governor Youngkin! Over the past year, it has become an unparalleled portal connecting veterans to thousands of supporting entities, programs, and services -- from transition and employment, healthcare options, education programs, benefits, to support when they fall into unforeseen challenges and despair. The technology involved has enabled us nearly 50,000 new registrations in less than 6 months. New features planned for release include enhanced access to counseling, job placement services, and educational resources. DVS continues to solicit user feedback to guide future development, with suggestions such as rideshare integration and expanded community services under consideration.

We have certainly not done this alone. Support and advice have been instrumental from my very first day in this chair. The guidance delivered from the DVS Statewide Strategic Plan, with its carefully laid out goals, actions, and measures was clear and well-constructed. I would strongly advise that the Commonwealth invest is an “every-four-year" effort to produce this type of guidance for future commissioners and executives. The challenges facing our veterans and families change and DVS will benefit from both clarity of mission and purpose.

The direction and guidance by our Executive has been substantial and critical to every success. It DOES all start with leadership. Support and assistance from our Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs, and his team has been stout and unfaltering. The legislators, led by leaders and members of the General Assembly Military and Veterans Caucus (GAMVC), has been significant and unwavering. Your wisdom, insight, and the feedback from your veteran constituents is critical to our success. I, and the DVS leadership team, thanks you all.

VDVS FY 2025 Highlights: Claims submitted by DVS to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Value: 131,554

VDVS FY 2025 Highlights: Number of Veteran and Family Users of the Virginia Veteran Network
Value: 28,585

VDVS FY 2025 Highlights: Individual services delivered by the Virginia Veteran and Family Support program
Value: 5,254

VDVS FY 2025 Highlights: Interments conducted at Virginia's three state veterans’ cemeteries
Value: 2,460

VDVS FY 2025 Highlights: Visitors to the Virginia War Memorial
Value: 64,3505

VDVS FY 2025 Highlights: Contacts with transitioning service members and spouses
Value: 24,955

As the year concludes, and we embark on our 98th year, I am confident that this IS an organization that is poised to continue to evolve and grow to the challenge of making Virginia the very best place to attract and retain veterans; the best place for transitioning veterans and military spouses to find their next careers and gain highly challenging careers and opportunities for their families and their next chapters of their lives; and to make Virginia the best place for veterans to live, work and raise their families.

As we move out in 2026, the men and women professionals of DVS remain focused on strengthening partnerships with federal and state agencies, enhancing service delivery through technology and outreach, and advocating for policies that reflect the evolving needs of Virginia’s veteran community. Our leaders have reaffirmed the department’s commitment by stating; We are here to serve you. Your voice matters. Together, we will ensure Virginia remains the best place for veterans and their families.

Charles A. Zingler
Commissioner