The Combat Veterans For Congress PAC is endorsing the 25th Combat Veteran For Congress in 14 states; he is a fiscally conservative candidate who will work to rein in the out of control spending by the Pelosi Congress.  Col William J. Clegg, USAR (Ret) (R-RI-2) http://billcleggforcongress.com  of Warwick, Rhode Island served in the US Army and US Army Reserve for 28 years and is running for election for Congress in the 2nd Congressional District of Rhode island.  He is running against Congressman James Langevin, who has voted in lock step with Pelosi 98% of the time, often against the interests of his constituents; he voted "yes" for the flawed health care bill.  Bill was born in New York City, New York in 1955.   In 1973 he graduated from Acton-Boxborough Regional High School in Acton, Mass, and went on to attend the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, RI where he was in the Reserve Officer Training Course and upon graduation in 1977, he received a double BA degree in History and Geography.   After four years in the regular Army, Bill subsequently attended Syracuse University College of Law and received a JD degree in 1984.  He also graduated from the US Army War College in 1999.       

Lieutenant William Clegg was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the regular US Army in June 1977 through his ROTC Unit at the University of Rhode Island where he was a designated as a distinguished military graduate.  Among other early positions, he was a rifle platoon leader in the Big Red One in Germany and over the course of his 28 year Army career, he commanded at every level up to Division.  In July 2004 Col Clegg voluntarily deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and was attached to Central Command (CENTCOM) as the Assistant Division Commander of the 98th Division (USAR).  Col Clegg served as part of General David Petraeus’ Multi-National Transition Command (MNSTC-1); his mission was to help assess and report on the status of training the Iraqi Army combat forces, while exploring how the US Army might employ US Army Reserve Component soldiers to accelerate the training process for the rapidly expanding Iraqi Army.   Upon his return from his deployment in Iraq in early 2005 Col Clegg retired with 28 years of honorable service in the US Army and US Army Reserve.    Col. Clegg’s awards include the Legion of Merit Medal, the Meritorious Service medal, The Army Commendations Medal, the Joint Meritorious Unit Award, the Joint Service Commendation Medal for work as part of the Multi-National Transition Command, and was awarded multiple campaign medals and awards for overseas service.

Bill spent more than twenty years at Textron Corporation where he last served as the Executive Director, Ethics & Compliance.  He recently left Textron to campaign for the Republican nomination for House of Representatives in the 2nd Congressional District.    Bill and his wife of 33 years, Ruth, are active in the community  and support many institutions such as St. Mary’s Home for Children, Community Prep, Save the Bay, United Way, and the Appalachian Mountain Club.   Bill has served on the Board of Directors of the RI Airport Corporation, the Ethics & Compliance Officer’s Association, and he was recently appointed by the Governor to the RI Commission on Judicial Tenure & Discipline; he still serves in that capacity.  He is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Military Order of Foreign Wars, Association of the US Army, the National Infantry Association, and the National Rifle Association.   Col Clegg has been endorsed by the Warwick and Cranston City Committees.  Bill and Ruth have two grown sons Alex and Garrett.   

A Veteran is someone who, at one point of his life, wrote a blank check made payable to “The United States of America” for an amount “up to and including his life.”  If you review Col. Clegg’s positions on his Web site, you would be pleased with his numerous stands on issues; they agree with the Combat Veterans For Congress Mission Statement.  We look forward to working with Col Clegg, and are pleased that a Combat Veteran of his stature is running for Congress.  If you have friends, associates, or relatives who know voters in the 2nd Congressional District of Rhode Island, kindly pass this E-mail on to them, and ask them to support Col. Clegg by working in his campaign, by providing financial support for his campaign in any amount, and/or by networking with others who would be willing to support his campaign.