Hawaii Adaptive Fitness Program Becomes an AMVETS National Model

EWA BEACH, Hawaii — AMVETS has adopted Resolution 27-10, AMVETS Hawaii Adaptive Fitness & Sports Program — National Endorsement and Scalable Implementation, formally endorsing the AMVETS Hawaii Adaptive Fitness & Sports Program as a national model. The resolution was submitted by the AMVETS Department of Hawaii, adopted at department level on April 23, 2026, and passed on the floor at the AMVETS 80th National Convention at the Rosen Centre, Orlando, Florida, August 18–22, 2026.

The adopted resolution endorses the program as a national model, authorizes AMVETS National to support development of a standardized framework, encourages AMVETS departments and posts to adopt and implement the programming, and encourages participating departments and posts to provide annual participation summaries. It was referred to the National Programs Committee.

National significance

The passage of Resolution 27-10 marks a significant national expansion of an initiative that began in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. What started as a locally developed, veteran-run adaptive fitness program is now an AMVETS-endorsed national model, creating a pathway for departments and posts across the country to replicate Hawaii’s approach in their own communities. Through a standardized implementation framework and coach training, the model is designed to remove barriers to participation and expand access to inclusive fitness for veterans and service members of all abilities. A program built by veterans in Hawaii now has the potential to influence how AMVETS serves veterans nationwide — demonstrating that a small department can build an idea with national reach.

The program the resolution names runs on Warrior Field at the AMVETS Hawaii Human Performance Center in Ewa Beach. Veterans and active duty service members train at no cost, permanently. Its defining feature is integration rather than separation: a wheelchair user, a veteran working around a knee replacement, and a competitive racer work the same station rotation, in the same hour, with each movement scaled in place.

Hawaii’s delegation

The resolution was carried to the convention floor by the Department of Hawaii delegation, led by Department Commander Donovan A. Lazarus. Commander Lazarus directed the department’s effort from adoption at the department level through passage at the national convention, and led the delegation in Orlando.

The National Significance section above is Commander Lazarus’s own assessment of what the resolution changes, provided for this release.

National Executive Committeeman Carl Vincenti represented Hawaii on the National Executive Committee through the resolution’s passage and its referral to the National Programs Committee.

“A resolution is only the beginning of the work. What matters now is that posts across the country can pick this up and run it without having to invent it first. That is what the standardized framework is for.”— Carl Vincenti, National Executive Committeeman, AMVETS Department of Hawaii

Alim Shabazz, Head Coach of the AMVETS Hawaii Adaptive Fitness program and Commander of Barbers Point Post 7, authored the resolution and briefed the program at the convention exhibit alongside Adaptive Coach Alia. Second Vice Commander Marcus DeValentino also represented the department in Orlando.

“Adaptive athletes do not want a separate class. They want the same session, at the same hour, with the same standard applied to them as everyone else. That is the whole model, and it is not expensive or complicated. Any post with a patch of ground and one certified coach can run it.”— Alim Shabazz, Head Coach, AMVETS Hawaii Adaptive Fitness

What happens next

The Department of Hawaii has published the implementation framework the resolution calls for, covering what a post needs before its first session, the sequence for standing a program up, and the coaching materials required to run it. Posts and departments can review it at bigtirebootcamp.com/post-strong.

The department has also established a coach certification in adaptive and inclusive training, offered at no cost to AMVETS post and department coaches.

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