Edward R. Reese, Executive Director, Washington Headquarters
Edward R. “Randy” Reese, Jr., a combat veteran of the Persian Gulf War, was appointed Executive Director of DAV’s National Service and Legislative Headquarters (NSLH) in Washington, D.C. in December 2018. In this capacity, he directs DAV’s legislative and service programs, which provide free benefits assistance to over 200,000 veterans, survivors and family members each year. Reese manages more than 400 professional and support staff at NSLH and 88 offices across the country. Reese also serves as DAV’s principal spokesperson before Congress, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the White House.
Reese has more than two decades of professional experience advocating for the men and women who served, having first joined DAV in 1995 as a National Service Officer and has worked in multiple locations around the country, including Kentucky, Nevada and California. He was appointed Associate National Service Director in May 1999, Assistant National Service Director in August 2000, Deputy National Service Director in August 2001, National Service Director in 2002, Deputy Director of Human Resources in July 2010, National Human Resources Director in August 2013 and Assistant Executive Director of NSLH in 2017 before his current appointment.
A nationally recognized expert on veterans benefits and services, Reese has served on a number of veteran-related federal advisory committees, including the Advisory Committee on Disability Compensation, Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans, VA Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Task Force, and the most recent VA Under Secretary for Health Search Committee.
A native of Bristol, Virginia, Reese enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1984. He was a rifle squad leader in the 82nd Airborne Division during the Persian Gulf War. Following the war, he served as an elite “Black-Hat” instructor in the Air Movement Operations and Jump Master Courses at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. There, he suffered a disabling back injury while conducting a night parachute jump in an airfield seizure training operation. Among his military decorations are the Combat Infantryman Badge, Master Parachutist Badge and the Meritorious Service Medal.
Reese earned his paralegal degree from Kaplan College for Professional Studies and is certified by the HR Certification Institute as a Senior Professional of Human Resources (SPHR) and Senior Certified Professional (SCP) by the Society for Human Resource Management. He is a life member of DAV Arlington/Fairfax Chapter 10. Reese and his wife Belenda currently live in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland.