Operation Homefront Chief Executive Officer Jim Knotts has resigned to accept another position, according to officials with the charity that provides emergency financial and other assistance to families of service members and wounded warriors.

The charity's chief operating officer, Tim Farrell, 48, has been appointed as interim CEO. Farrell, a retired Air Force officer, has served as COO since January 2013. The board of directors will select a new CEO, said Operation Homefront spokesman Aaron Taylor.

Knotts, who left the corporate world to join Operation Homefront in 2009, will become CEO of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund on Oct. 6. VVMF is the nonprofit organization led by Vietnam veteran Jan Scruggs that was authorized by Congress in 1980 to raise the funds needed to build the national memorial dedicated to those who served in the U.S. military in the Vietnam War. VVMF is in the midst of a campaign to build an education center at the memorial, commonly known as the Wall, in Washington, D.C.

"Operation Homefront is a vastly different organization today than when Jim joined the staff five years ago. We are serving more families in more ways, with a strong financial position, a strategic vision, and a network of supporters to continue our mission of servicing military families," said Mark Foster, chairman of the board, in a statement announcing Knotts' resignation.

"This generation of service members and veterans has enjoyed the respect and support from the American people for the sacrifices they've made," Knotts said in an interview Tuesday.

"That is very different from the experience of those who served in Vietnam. I believe that changed during Desert Storm," he said, when the American people were able to separate their personal political views from their support of service members. "For those who will need support for years to come, I believe that support will be there. And that's due in large part to the commitment of Vietnam veterans vowing this generation would be treated differently than the Vietnam generation."

VVMF will help be stewards of the legacy of those who gave their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to VVMF, the future education center will provide space where people can recognize those who gave their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan until a memorial is built in their honor.

Knotts said his personal commitment was to support this generation of service members in what has become the nation's longest war. "Operation Homefront is a strong supporter of the military and will continue to be," he said, in large part because of donors who continue to support military families.

Among the most important accomplishments of Operation Homefront in the last five years, he said, are consolidating from a chapter-based structure to a more effective national organization reaching all 50 states; expanding emergency assistance to all wounded, ill and injured veterans dating back to Sept. 11, 2001, and setting up a permanent housing program that matches donated homes from financial institutions with military and veteran families in need.

Foster said Knotts has helped ensure Operation Homefront, founded in 2002, is operating in a position of strength with relevancy for military families and veterans into the future. "Thanks to Jim for his dedication, commitment and personal sacrifice," Foster said. ■

Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.

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