Denise (Hulbert) Rohan was born in McGregor and attended Central Community School through graduation in 1974. After graduation she entered U.S. Army basic training at Fort McClellan, Alabama. Following basic training she moved onto further training at Fort Lee, Virginia. She was one of the first women to complete the Stock Control & Accounting (specializing in electronics) course. As the outstanding graduate of her class, she was kept in Virginia as an instructor until her discharge in 1976.

While in Virginia she met and married her husband James (Michael) Rohan (from Kentucky). As a military spouse she followed her husband to Fort Bliss, Texas, Gimpo South Korea and finally to Madison Wisconsin.

In 1983 she began her career in the Bursar’s Office at the University of Wisconsin Madison Campus where she managed an over two-million-dollar student loan portfolio until her retirement in 2012.

As a soldier and also a military spouse, she learned the importance of having a support system in place just in case anything would happen while living away from your immediate family members. Therefore, she and her husband became active with The American Legion, a veteran’s service organization that support veterans and their families.

She actively served in many positions in The American Legion eventually becoming the first women Post Commander in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin and then in 2011 the first women State Commander for Wisconsin.

During this same time, she served on the Family Readiness Group team for several of the Wisconsin National Guard units. She worked with families (especially children) as their soldiers were deployed. Helping to provide support wherever needed to make the absence easier.

Through hard work and dedication Denise was appointed to several national positions within The American Legion to include chair of the Veterans Employment and Education Commission. Part of her duties included helping with Veterans Job Fairs across the nation and testifying on veteran’s behalf.

Denise was elected National Commander of the 2-million-member American Legion on August 24, 2017 in Reno, Nev., during the 99th national convention of the nation’s largest veterans organization. She was the first woman to be elected to the top position of The American Legion.

As National Commander she traveled to all 50 states (at least once) and seven foreign countries. She toured Military facilities, Veteran Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Cemeteries to learn about concerns leaders have for our active-duty military, veterans and their families.

With knowledge gained from her tours, she helped craft legislation and met one-on-one with Vice President Pence, U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Army, Medal of Honor recipients, several military Generals, Governors, and other U.S. Legislators (to include Iowa’s Senator Ernst). She presented an hour-long testimony before a joint session of Congress in Washington, DC where she was introduced by then Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.

She had the opportunity to hold a press conference at the Washington, DC Press Club. She also got to be a main speaker during D-Day Commemorative Ceremonies in St. Mere Eglise France (the first French town to be liberated) which was preceded by an airborne jump reenactment of D-Day and followed by her laying a wreath at the U.S. Cemetery in Normandy. She presided over a wreath laying ceremony at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7 and had a private tour of Hacksaw Ridge in Okinawa.

She was briefed at the military strategic command center in Europe on activities there and in Africa. She was briefed and toured inside the blue building that straddles the boarder between North & South Korea and was still in country when North Korea shot off a ballistic missile.

She also visited Defense Accounting Agencies facilities in Kansas, Hawaii, and South Korea where anthropologists are working to identify the bodies of POW/MIA from battlefields around the world.

She appeared on several national and local tv and radio news programs in response to veterans related announcements from the White House or congress. One CNN appearance required being driven to Charlotte, NC in a police vehicle.

The American Legion sponsors many youth activities with the seasons ending in national championships which she attended to present awards. The Shooting Sports program holds its national finals at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs; American Legion Baseball World Series in Shelby, NC; and Oratorical Finals in Indianapolis, IN.

Denise preceded over the 100^th National Convention in Minneapolis, MN where she arrived on motorcycle along with The American Legion Riders who had spent 5 days on the road collecting over a million dollars for the Legacy Scholarship which benefits the children of wounded or killed in action service members.

In 2018 Denise was recognized as one of the nation’s top 25 influencers making a difference for military service members, veterans, and their families by “We Are The Mighty”. She was also recognized as a trailblazer by V-WISE (Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship).

Now back home in Wisconsin she was appointed by the President of the United States as Wisconsin’s State Director of the Selective Service System; continues to volunteer with the National Guard Family program and serve The American Legion wherever and whenever needed.