The election of a new 5th District American Legion Commander was held and local resident John Davis will be taking office June 24.

Davis was elected from members of seven counties at the convention.

“I feel privileged,” said Davis. “I look forward to the challenge.”

Davis was born in Indiana and served in the Army from 1963 to 1984. He is now retired and living in McMinnville.

 Before being elected, Davis was Post 173 commander for two years in McMinnville. Davis served as the post adjutant for the last two years before the election took place, along with other important positions.

The duties involve working with 19 posts from seven counties ranging from the edge of Alabama to Warren County. He will assist the commanders and adjutants with memberships, training, and anything else to get their posts up and running strong.

His interest for this position stems from his membership and dedication to the American Legion and his time serving in the Army. He wants to continue to serve the American people.

His goals involve a five-year plan. This plan will help prepare all the officers by training them with basic knowledge of what American Legion is about so they can pass that knowledge to others. This will be a recruiting mechanism for the officers to add to their specific post.

  By the end of his year of being the 5th District Commander, Davis plans for all the commanders and adjutants to have a basic training guide to help them in all the posts. His duties also involve going to each post to evaluate their meetings and come up with ways to help make them more effective.