Utah’s department commander, president truly make up a Legion Family 

The First Family of American Legion Department of Utah leadership is a family – literally.

During the department’s convention in late June, Ninzel Rasmuson was elected department commander. At the same convention, her husband Mike was elected Auxiliary department president – the first male to hold that position within a department since Sept. 1, 2019, when the Auxiliary’s membership criteria was changed from “wives” to “spouses.”

“It wasn’t planned at all,” said Ninzel of the dual-election. “It just happened to align for the 2023-2024 membership year, and that’s where we’re at.”

After visiting the U.S. Air Force Academy as an 8-year-old, Ninzel knew she wanted to join the military. She served in the Air National Guard from 1989-2001and joined the Legion in May 2017 and the Auxiliary in 2018. Coming from a background heavily influenced by the military – both her grandfathers were World War II veterans, including a Purple Heart recipient – she went into The American Legion wanting to be active and assume a leadership position of some sort.

“I’ve also been active and had strong convictions about our veterans and their families,” said Ninzel, a member of American Legion Post 140 in Riverton, Utah. “I’m really excited about the Be the One campaign. I’m really heavily involved with mental health and all that is involved with that as well. As a new department commander, there’s some things on the docket to keep pushing forward here within the state of Utah. I love being a Legionnaire. I love the camaraderie between all of us – the veterans and their families.”

Mike joined the Auxiliary in 2019 when the eligibility change went into effect as a show of support for his wife. He wasn’t planning on being active until he was contacted by Silvana Watanabe – the department’s 2022-2023 president – who knew Ninzel was going to be out of town for an extended period of time.

“She called me and said, ‘Hey Mike, what are you going to be doing while your wife is off doing things?’” Mike said. “She said, ‘Would you like to serve in the American Legion Auxiliary in a leadership capacity?’”

Mike said he told Watanabe he’d think about it, “but once I started learning what we needed in the state of Utah American Legion Auxiliary, things we could do to help veterans in our state … I was happy to step forward and volunteer,” he said.

Both Ninzel and Mike moved through the leadership program quickly, Ninzel at the post, district and department level, and Mike moving directly into a department vice commander role.

“I spent a lot of time … being mentored by (department leadership),” Mike said. “I was able to figure out a whole lot of different ways to learn from the top down. And attending different meetings with different department chairs has helped me to kind of get a really good understanding.

“I’ve learned a lot about the Auxiliary in the past few years. They have a willingness to step up and inject some different perspective into our department.”

Being elected at the same convention and having the opportunity to serve alongside her husband while leading part of the Department of Utah American Legion Family has added importance for Ninzel.

“For me, it was a very special experience (being) a female veteran and having a supportive spouse,” Ninzel said. “And honestly, Mike has always been a supportive spouse. He has always supported me as a veteran. So that was a pretty special experience this past weekend to stand side by side as a husband and wife and know we’re both in complete support of one another in what we do with the American Legion Family.”

Mike said he’s always been proud of his wife, describing her as a “force of nature. I kind of try to keep up with her. She’s always actively engaged in whatever she does in life. When I was asked to be a part of leadership, I knew I had to be actively engaged and follow her example.

“Her becoming commander has been a culmination of several years of working tirelessly behind the scenes to do not only things for the Legion, but her passion for veterans in general. So, I don’t want to say I’m just trying to keep up. But I am trying to keep the bar high in our family. I take this responsibility seriously.”