The United States Veteran Reserve Corps is a 501(c)(3) organization with a military structure.  We engage in community emergency responses to both natural and manmade crisis and serve as force multipliers for Emergency Management Agencies, Homeland Security Agencies, Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (VOADs), State Defense Forces, and the National Guard.  

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The VRC honors the legacy of the original Veteran Reserve Corps in the American Civil War when General Order 105 (1863) established the "Invalid Corps" for Union soldiers who were wounded and rendered incapable of performing field service, but were still capable of light duty. Eventually, the Invalid Corps was expanded to include soldiers that wished to serve beyond their regular contract.

 

A year later, General Order 111 renamed the organization to the "Veterans Reserve Corps" to boost morale through elevating the units name to match their worth to the Army as a whole.  Throughout the war, the Veterans Reserve Corps performed admirably. Their duties included: Guard Duty at Union Prison Camps, arrested bounty hunters and enforced the draft, conducted patrol duty in Washington, D.C., took up arms to defend the Capitol during the Battle of Fort Stevens, and escorted the body of President Lincoln during his funeral procession to Springfield, Illinois.

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During Reconstruction, the U.S. Congress introduced House Resolution 361 (1866), which incorporated the Veteran Reserve Corps as a component of the Army of the United States.