Veteran Motorcycle Clubs: Who They Are and How to Join

Veteran clubs are the largest single category of clubs in this directory after general motorcycle clubs, and they are the easiest category for a qualifying rider to join. They combine the structure of a traditional club with a mission that most members already share: taking care of other veterans. This guide covers the main organizations and how they differ.

Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association

The CVMA has chapters in nearly every state, identified by a state number and a chapter number such as 15-1. Full membership requires documented service in a combat zone, verified from discharge paperwork. Veterans without combat service can join as supporters in many chapters, and spouses join an auxiliary. Chapters raise money for veteran causes, visit hospitals, escort funerals, and ride together. The CVMA wears a three-piece patch but describes itself as an association rather than an MC and keeps a cooperative relationship with local clubs.

American Legion Riders and VFW Riders

These are programs of their parent posts, not independent clubs. To join the American Legion Riders you must belong to the American Legion, the Auxiliary, or the Sons of the American Legion, which means eligibility follows the Legion's rules on service. VFW Riders groups follow the Veterans of Foreign Wars eligibility. Both run the Legacy Run and local charity rides, and both are the right first stop for a veteran who wants structure without a prospecting period.

Service-specific MCs

Leathernecks MC and similar clubs serve Marines and Navy corpsmen who served with them. Other clubs restrict membership to a single branch, a single conflict, or a single career field. These are traditional MCs with prospecting, bylaws, and earned patches. Eligibility is verified from service records, and the culture closely resembles the units members came from.

Rolling Thunder and the Patriot Guard Riders

Rolling Thunder chapters advocate for accountability for prisoners of war and the missing in action and organize the Memorial Day presence in Washington and in state capitals. Membership is open to anyone who supports the mission, veteran or not. The Patriot Guard Riders are not a club at all but a volunteer network that attends funerals at the invitation of the family to stand flag lines and shield mourners from protesters. Anyone can ride with them. Many club members do.

Law enforcement and first responder clubs

The Blue Knights accept active and retired law enforcement officers. The Red Knights accept firefighters. Related clubs exist for emergency medical personnel and corrections. Many veterans who went into public safety after service belong to both a veteran club and one of these.

What veteran clubs do

• Escort funerals, dignified transfers, and welcome-home ceremonies.
• Raise money for veteran service organizations, hospitals, and individual veterans in crisis.
• Visit hospitalized veterans and nursing homes.
• Support families of the fallen and deployed service members.
• Ride together, which for many members is the point.

Finding a chapter

Use the state pages in this directory and filter by eye for veteran clubs, which are labeled by category. Check the national organization's chapter locator to confirm the chapter is current. Veterans service offices, VFW and Legion posts, and base morale and recreation offices usually know which chapters are active. Chapters near large installations tend to be the biggest and the most active.

Before you join

Bring your discharge paperwork to the first meeting; every veteran club will ask for it. Ask whether supporter or auxiliary membership exists for family. Ask how often the chapter rides and how often it escorts, because escort duty is time-consuming and emotionally heavy. For many members it is also the most meaningful thing they do on a motorcycle.