Vets for Bernie was founded in June 2015 by former United States Marine Tyson Manker, a veteran of the 2003 Iraq invasion, at Sanders' first town hall event at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. After "The Boston Globe" indicated wider military support for the Senator, Manker and several other veterans began organizing themselves and working to identify other like-minded members of the United States Armed Forces. Air Force veteran Alexandra Ducatte joined VFB as National co-director, and membership eventually grew across all fifty states, Guam, and Puerto Rico.