Mission

Pennsylvania's Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA) has a dual mission: to provide quality service to the commonwealth’s veterans and their families, and to oversee and support the members of the Pennsylvania National Guard (PNG).  We fulfill our dual mission by:

• Providing resources and assistance to Pennsylvania’s more than 700,000 veterans and their families, and providing quality care for aging and disabled veterans.
  
• Preparing the PNG for combat, performing worldwide combat and combat support operations, providing global reach and the projection of U.S. military power in support of national objectives; and, at the command of the governor, providing trained personnel to support state and local authorities in times of natural disaster or civil strife.

Created by the Act of April 11, 1793, the Adjutant General Department was later renamed the Department of Military Affairs by the Administrative Code of 1923. The Act of March 21, 1996 changed the name, once again, to what it is known by today – the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA).

DMVA is one of Pennsylvania’s largest employers, with approximately 22,000 military and civilian personnel in some 90 communities statewide.  It is overseen by the adjutant general, a governor appointed cabinet-level position.

The DMVA and PNG are headquartered at Fort Indiantown Gap in Lebanon County. Fort Indiantown Gap features more than 17,000 acres and 140 training areas and facilities for year-round training for military forces, law enforcement agents and civilians from across the nation and is one of the busiest National Guard Training Centers in the country.