Author of the acclaimed combat memoir, The War I Always Wanted, Brandon Friedman has spent the last several years advocating national security issues while working tirelessly on matters concerning America’s military and veterans communities.

From 2007 to 2009, Brandon served as the Vice Chairman of VoteVets.org, a 100,000-member organization dedicated to getting veterans elected to public office.  While at VoteVets, Brandon worked throughout the media to communicate defense, foreign policy, and veterans issues on national television, radio, online, and in print.  After leaving VoteVets, Brandon accepted a position as the Director of New Media at the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, D.C.

Prior to his work in government, politics, and the media, Brandon served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division in Afghanistan and Iraq.  In 2002, he led a rifle platoon into Afghanistan's Shah-e-Kot Valley in order to engage Taliban and al Qaeda fighters as part of Operation Anaconda—a battle later written about by award-winning journalist Sean Naylor in Not a Good Day to Die.  A year later, Brandon commanded a heavy weapons platoon during the invasion of Iraq--eventually leading troops during combat and counterinsurgency operations in Hillah, Baghdad, and Tal Afar.  He was awarded two Bronze Stars for his service in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Brandon has been interviewed by ABC News, the Associated Press, the Washington Post, Military Times, Stars and Stripes, and many other news organizations.  He has also appeared on ABC, CNN, MSNBC, and C-SPAN, as well as on NPR, Newsweek On Air, and dozens of other radio stations across the country.  Brandon's writing has been featured on a wide range of new media outlets to include The Huffington Post, Military.com, and the White House Blog.

Brandon holds an MPA in Public Policy and Administration from the University of Texas at Dallas and a BA in History from Louisiana State University in Shreveport.  He is currently a Fellow with the Truman National Security Project and a Captain in the Individual Ready Reserve.

                                                           Author, age 7

                                     Author, age 25