Behind the Mission

BTM270 - Bill Birnie - Financial Stability for SMVF

Written by Jamie Regalia | May 28, 2026 5:31:44 PM
   

About Today’s Guest

 

Bill Birnie’s lifelong dedication to serving the military community, coupled with his extensive leadership and financial expertise, makes him an outstanding candidate for our PsychArmor Board. A 25-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Bill retired in 1997 as a Sergeant Major, having served in combat operations during Operation Desert Storm and Operation United Shield. His military career also included assignments as a Marine guard and detachment commander at U.S. Embassies worldwide, where he cultivated a deep understanding of service, leadership, and teamwork.

Transitioning from military service, Bill brought his strategic mindset to the credit union industry, where he has built a remarkable 26-year career. Currently, as President and CEO of Frontwave Credit Union, he leads a $1.4 billion institution dedicated to empowering military families and veterans. Bill’s leadership, understanding of financial systems, combined with his ability to create sustainable growth, aligns with our strategic needs, and will support our long-term vision.

Bill has served on Boards that address the unique needs of military families and veterans, including as Chairman of the Defense Credit Union Council and Vice Chair of the Armed Forces Financial Network. His experience as a Western Credit Union Management School graduate and 15 years as a faculty member further underscores his ability to mentor and guide organizations toward financial and operational excellence. In his spare time, Bill enjoys golf, traveling and attending theater or concerts with family and friends.

With his unparalleled military and leadership experience, Bill Birnie brings the expertise and insight to strengthen PsychArmor’s mission, ensuring it continues to create meaningful impact for the military and veteran community.

PsychArmor Resource of the Week

This week’s resource of the week is the Preparing Your Finances for Transition.

In this course, service members, Veterans and their families will learn about some major financial considerations associated with transition, as well as five useful tips for preparing their finances.

You can find the resource here: https://learn.psycharmor.org/courses/Preparing-Your-Finances-for-Transition

Provide Feedback:

As a dedicated member of the audience, we would like to hear from you. If you PsychArmor has helped you learn, grow, and support those who’ve served and those who care for them, we would appreciate hearing your story. Please follow this link to share how PsychArmor has helped you in your service journey Share PsychArmor Stories

Episode Partner:

Are you an organization that engages with or supports the military affiliated community? Would you like to partner with an engaged and dynamic audience of like-minded professionals? Reach out to Inquire about Partnership Opportunities

Theme Music
Our theme music Don’t Kill the Messenger was written and performed by Navy Veteran Jerry Maniscalco, in cooperation with Operation Encore, a non profit committed to supporting singer/songwriter and musicians across the military and Veteran communities.

This Episode Sponsored By:
This episode is sponsored by PsychArmor, the premier education and learning ecosystem specializing in military culture content. PsychArmor offers an online e-learning laboratory with custom training options for organizations.

 Producer and Host Duane France is a retired Army Noncommissioned Officer, combat veteran, and clinical mental health counselor for service members, veterans, and their families.  You can find more about the work that he is doing at www.veteranmentalhealth.com