Heather Y. Allen was elected State Jr. Vice Commander of the Department of Montana Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. on June 17, 2023 at the State Convention held in Whitefish, MT. 

Heather was a military brat, born and raised in California (note: she never lived there by choice). After graduation, she moved to Wisconsin for a short time before following in her Dad’s footsteps. She enlisted in the Air Force in 1996, where she spent nine and a half years as a Signals Intelligence Analyst. Her assignments included Kelly AFB, TX, Osan AB, Republic of Korea, and Vogelweh AB, Germany with a temporary duty in Vicenza, Italy with NATO supporting the Kosovo Campaign. She earned her eligibility with two of the four assignments having received the Kosovo Campaign Medal and the Korea Defense Service Medal.

Heather joined VFW Post 3596 as a life member in March 2018 and was elected Quartermaster in 2019, a position she continues to hold today. She was instrumental in her post receiving All-American for the first time since its charter in 1937 for 2020-2021 and again in 2021-2022; she was an All-State Quartermaster both years as well. She was appointed as the National Aide-de-Camp in 2019, the General Resolutions Committee in 2020 and 2022, the Finance and Internal Organization Committee in 2021, and the State Budget Committee in 2022. She is the Vice President of Joint Operation Mariposa, a Veterans outreach organization, and was Vice President of the Plains Woman’s Club 2020-2022. Heather married her husband, Eric, also a VFW life member, in 2006 and resides in Plains, MT.