Fleet Reserve Association — FRA
FRA is the sea services' enlisted voice: founded in 1924 by a Navy Chief, it represents the interests of enlisted members of the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard before Congress — and its accredited representatives can assist a service member, veteran, spouse, or dependent who appoints FRA to represent them before the VA.
- Founded: 1924, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by Navy Chief Yeoman George L. Carlin; congressionally chartered
- Status: Congressionally chartered, nonprofit veterans service organization, 501(c)(19)
- Headquarters: Alexandria, Virginia
- Size: “over 25,000 dues-paying Shipmates” in “more than 130 Branches” (FRA’s own figure, from its Membership Manual)
- Website: fra.org
Who it serves
Membership is restricted by FRA’s constitution to personnel who have served or are now serving in an enlisted status in the United States Navy, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard — including the reserve components — regardless of length of service. Active duty, reserve, retired, and veteran enlisted Shipmates are the membership; discharge under bad-conduct or dishonorable conditions is disqualifying.
The family’s door is the Auxiliary of the FRA (organized in 1930 as the Ladies Auxiliary). In FRA’s own words, Auxiliary membership is open to “spouses, parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers, children, stepchildren and grandchildren not less than 16 years of age of members of the Fleet Reserve Association” — and to the same family members, including widows and widowers, of persons who were members, or eligible to be members, at the time of their death.
What it does
- Legislative advocacy — FRA’s first stated purpose: to represent the enlisted point of view before Congress and government committees, protecting sea-service pay, benefits, and quality of life.
- Career and entitlement help for members — FRA’s second stated purpose: assisting members in solving individual career and entitlement problems, through close liaison with the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security.
- Accredited representation — FRA is accredited by the VA (and by the Board for Correction of Naval Records, the Physical Evaluation Board, the Physical Review Council, and DFAS). Its VSO policy states its accredited representatives can assist any service member, veteran, spouse, or dependent who has filed VA Form 21-22 appointing FRA as their representative, in claims matters before the VA.
- Scholarships — the FRA Education Foundation awards more than $100,000 annually in scholarships to FRA family members; the Auxiliary funds four more scholarships of its own.
- And more — the Disaster Relief Fund, Americanism and patriotism essay awards, service-member-of-the-year sponsorships, and FRAToday magazine.
How a family uses it
- Start at fra.org — national office: 703-683-1400 or 1-800-FRA-1924.
- If your sailor, Marine, or Coast Guardsman is enlisted — one day of service counts — he is FRA’s constituency whether or not he joins.
- Spouses, parents, and children 16 and older: the Auxiliary of the FRA is your membership, and it survives him — widows, widowers, and the family of a Shipmate who died eligible may join.
In this case
Thomas Bowman Sr. was a Navy veteran — the service FRA exists for. There was no contact with FRA in the family’s record.
Facts on this page are drawn from FRA's own published materials (fra.org, including its constitution, Membership Manual, and VSO policy), checked October 2026. Membership and program rules change; the organization's own site governs. Corrections: care@bowmanwebservices.com.