By statute, every Wisconsin county is required to maintain a County Veterans Service Office, headed by a County Veterans Service Officer (CVSO). The duties of the CVSO include counseling veterans about their benefits, publicizing benefit programs among local veterans, and acting as an advocate for veterans. The County Veterans Service Officer Association of Wisconsin is the CVSO's statewide organization, providing them with a pathway of communication and a common voice in state veterans' affairs.
The modern Wisconsin CVSO had two predecessors. First were the Soldiers and Sailors Relief Commissions (SSRC), established by state law in 1887. The SSRC was a county-level, three-person body appointed by a county judge which dispensed relief money to local indigent veterans. The second predecessor was the benefits counseling services offered by private veterans' organizations, most notably the American Legion. By the 1930's, Wisconsin's American Legion found itself unable to handle the volume of service work demanded of it, and began to lobby county governments to create their own service offices. The first CVSO in Wisconsin and the United States was authorized in Fond du Lac County in 1931. By 1935, twenty counties had created positions and the state legislature authorized all counties to employ CVSOs on a voluntary basis.
As county employees, the CVSOs had no links of communication between themselves. In response, officers from more than 20 counties formed the CVSO Association of Wisconsin at Green Bay in December 1936. Throughout the late 1930s and early 1940s the number of counties hiring CVSOs grew. During this period, the CVSO Association grew in stature and influence in Wisconsin's veterans' service community. In recognition of this, when Wisconsin reformed its veterans service system to meet the needs of veterans returning from World War II in 1945, lawmakers made the position of CVSO mandatory in every county.
In the years after World War II, the CVSO Association grew in power and influence in Wisconsin's veterans affairs. By the 1950s, for example, the association became a major advocacy group for veterans in state politics. The CVSO Association also grew and matured professionally, perhaps best exemplified by the development of annual training “institutes” held at the University of Wisconsin, and later at other locations.
The influxes of new veterans following the Korean and Vietnam wars proved that Wisconsin's service officer system was not only effective but durable as well. In the postwar era, the CVSO Association continued to grow in power, influence, and organizational maturity.
