The American Legion was chartered by Congress in 1919 as a patriotic, mutual-help, war-time veterans organization. This community-service organization now numbers nearly three million members, men and women, in nearly 15,000 American Legion Posts worldwide. These Posts are organized into 55 Departments -- one each for the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, France, Mexico, and the Philippines.

The American Legion's National Headquarters is located in Indianapolis, Indiana with additional offices in Washington, D.C. The national organization has a regular full-time staff of about 300 employees. In local communities, thousands of volunteers serve in leadership and program implementation capacities to the Legion's standing national commissions and committees.