Marc Burgess, National Adjutant
J. Marc Burgess, a veteran of the Persian Gulf War, was appointed national adjutant for the more than 1 million-member DAV, June 1, 2013. As DAV’s senior staff official, National Adjutant Burgess serves as the organization’s chief executive officer and leads the 650-member DAV staff, managing all operations of the organization of wartime injured and ill veterans, one of America’s largest charitable institutions.
Prior to his appointment, Burgess served as executive director at DAV National Headquarters, guiding the organization’s voluntary services, fundraising, accounting, administration, information technology, communications, logistics and plant operations.
Burgess’s DAV career began as a national service officer on October 23, 1995. His first assignment was DAV’s National Service Office in Baltimore, Maryland. He went on to advocate for veterans in Washington, D.C.; Atlanta, Georgia; at DAV’s Board of Veterans Appeals Office; and, as Appellate Counsel before the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. Burgess also provided management oversight of DAV’s service programs as associate and assistant national service director at DAV’s National Service and Legislative Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and served as director of human resources and assistant executive director at DAV National Headquarters.
The Hattiesburg, Mississippi, native earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Pennsylvania in 1996, a Bachelor of Science in paralegal studies from Stevenson University in 1998 and a Master of Arts in human resources from the University of Cincinnati in 2010.
Burgess served in the U.S. Navy from October 1987 through October 1992, when he was medically discharged. His service included crewmember and plank-owner aboard the USS Normandy. He joined DAV before his discharge from the Navy and is a life member of Chapter 19 in Erlanger, Kentucky.
Burgess and his spouse, Amy, reside in Hebron, Kentucky. He is the father of two daughters, Cassandra and Victoria; and a son, Beaumont.