Candidate for Department Commander: David Brambila

David Brambila, Candidate for Department Commander

About the Candidate:

David Brambila
A Blue Cap American Legionnaire, Native Californian, for the position of Department Commander

David’s eligibility was established by his honorable service in the Marine Corps and continued his service through Veterans Organizations.

American Legion:

Post 742 Finance Officer (3 years), Post 742 Commander (1 year), District 21 3rd Vice (1 year), District 21 Vice Commander (2 years), District 21 Commander (2 years), Area 5 Vice Commander (1year), Dept. of CA Ways and Means Chairman (2 years), National Media and Communications (2 years)

Other Board Affiliations:

Veterans Housing Alliance, Navy League.  Corona Chamber of Commerce, Corona Chamber Foundation, Corona Cinco de Mayo Scholarship Committee

Community Involvement:

Co-Chair for Patriot Day City of Corona (3 years), Co-Chair Memorial Day March (3 years), Cinco de Mayo Parade Chairman (8 years).  Soccer Coach and Referee for AYSO (15 years).  Awardee of the Corona Making a Difference award for the work he is doing with Veterans in the community.

Measurable Results:

• He and his team raised over $500k for post 742 as Chairman of the Building Committee renovated the post with new kitchen, new bathrooms, new flooring, new paint and new parking lot.
• He and his team raised over $75k to gut the canteen and rebuild it as Post 742 Commander.
• He created a BINGO Committee for building and parking lot expansion and he and his team today have raised over $120k for Post 742
• Wrote a grant and created a District wide honor guard team
• Left District 21 with over $30k to help Veterans and assist our posts and programs
• Wrote a grant to provide 17 desktops and 17 laptops, one of each for each post in D21
• Left Area 5 with enough to fund them for the next 3 years
• Was #1 in Membership for Area 5 without a Membership Chair
• Wrote a $10k grant for Dept of California membership.
• Led the charge and as of this month we now have a 501c3 named California American Legion Charities to support all posts and the Department of CA write grants and go after corporate donations
• Created the California Legion Store calegionstore.com to help fundraise for the Department
• He and his team as Chairman Hit the $75k fundraising goal for Ways and Means during Q3 and are expected to bring in $100+K by this convention.

David’s Background:

Born in Los Angeles, raised in Santa Ana and a current 25-year Resident in Corona. David, who majored in Business Management at Cal Poly Pomona, has been a business owner (24 years) since leaving the Marine Corps in 2001 and while attending business school. He owned and sold a successful retail store and sold it in 2009. He’s a licensed real estate broker since 2009 with Rome Echo Real Estate, helping veterans and their families become homeowners. He also has a marketing firm, Creative Marketing, which helps organizations tell their stories using print, promotional items and Websites.

He is the oldest of five; one brother and three sisters. One of his sisters is currently serving in the Marine Corps stationed at Camp Pendleton as a Gunnery Sgt. Select (E-7). He is a proud brother and will be pinning her new rank this year. David is happily married to Venus and will be celebrating their 29th year anniversary this month. He has two boys, Jacob (14) and David Jr (25).

His plan is to create a plan: a Strategic Plan to include SOP’s, marketing plan, and business plan for the Department of California. We are losing members faster than when we recruit new members. The American Legion has over 400 Posts, all with 400 different missions and messaging. We should all be uniformed the same, using the same logo, same marketing materials, with the same message, same elevator speech, with SOP’s and Procedures and a plan to grow. This will have a unified look utilizing our strength in numbers throughout California. He plans to hand off this 3 year plan at Convention 2026 so that the new command and DEC can hit the ground running. 

To stop the bleeding with our membership and finances and to be able to fund our VSO’s and programs we need a proven leader with measurable results to make drastic changes and elevate the department of California. Vote David for Commander.

Contact:

David Brambila | david@district21ca.org

The American Legion is a business. Let’s get back to business!

Want to download a copy of David’s brochure? Click below.

For additional candidate information, visit Officer Candidates.