Shawn Ransford spent 25 years in the Army, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. He now works for VFW Post 10003 in Indianapolis, Indiana, as a VFW Accredited Service Officer after responding to an ad that said, “Do you want to help veterans?”
“I left the interview and only knew I would be doing something to assist veterans,” he said. “I could have been pushing a wheelchair at a hospital … I had no clue.”
Although the job description was vague, Ransford was all in and eager for his first day.
“It was then that I found out I would be supporting veterans through the claims process,” he said. “The rest is history.”
Today, helping veterans get their disabilities service-connected is one of Ransford’s favorite parts of the job.
“It was a bit slow during my first few weeks,” he said. “Then one day it seemed like the floodgates opened, and I started doing up to 10 appeals a day.”
Ransford now proudly claims the highest success rate of any office in Indiana in verified claim appeals.
For him, working with the VA and veterans can be both exciting and exhausting. It depends on the moment. Ransford’s best days are when a veteran calls him just to chat or say thank you for his work.
“It feels great when a truly in-need veteran gets a disability service-connected. The job can be difficult other days, and it can take a lot to push through that,” he said. “But I know at the end of the day that I’m helping veterans get the care they need, and that makes all the difference.”
Learn more about the VFW's National Veterans Service (NVS) program.