The Combat Veterans For Congress PAC is endorsing the 47th Combat Veteran For Congress; he is a fiscally conservative candidate who believes that the out of control spending of the administration, burdensome tax policies, and a staggering national debt have combined to create the single greatest threat to America’s future national security.  Col. Chris Perkins, USA (Ret) http://www.Perkins2012.com of Lorton, VA is a 24 year military veteran and is running for election in the 11th Congressional District of Virginia against Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA-11), a 2 term incumbent and Pelosi clone.  His under-performing and extremely vulnerable opponent, who won re-election by less than a thousand votes, has consistently supported measures to expand the federal government’s role in our daily lives, and has been vocally boastful of his personal efforts to add to the annual deficit spending.  Col Perkins was born in Burlington, VT in 1956; Chris’ father was a Navy Physician and Chris moved to various locations when his father received new orders  His father retired in Massachusetts, and Chris graduated from Attleboro High School in Attleboro, MA in 1974.  In 1986, Col Perkins received a BA in English from Franklin & Marshal College in Lancaster, PA, and in 1994, he earned an MA with highest honors in National Security & Strategic Studies from the US Naval War College in Newport, RI.  In 2001, he earned an MA in National Security & Strategic Studies from the National War College.    

Chris Perkins enlisted in the US Army in 1981 and earned a commission through Officer Candidates School in 1982.   After being posted to the 1-54th Mechanized Infantry Battalion in Germany as a Lieutenant in the Infantry, Perkins attended Ranger and Special Forces training as a Captain and served with distinction as a Green Beret in various command and staff positions for the next two decades.  As a Special Forces officer, Colonel Perkins combat commands included multiple A-Teams, a Company, and an enhanced Special Forces Battalion.  His combat experience during three separate tours of duty with the 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) includes Operation Desert Storm in Iraq (1991) (for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross---DFC); peacemaking operations in Bosnia (1995); Operation Assured Response in Africa (1996); and Operation Noble Anvil in Kosovo (1999).  Colonel Perkins also served as a Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense and as a Congressional Fellow in the office of U.S. Senator Jim Jeffords (R-VT).  In addition to the DFC, his other military awards and decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit,  the Meritorious Service Medal with two bronze Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with two bronze Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Achievement Medal and numerous campaign and other medals.  Colonel Perkins earned the Expert Infantryman Badge, the Master Parachutist Badge, the Ranger Tab and the Special Forces Tab.  As a Captain, Perkins was also the recipient of the prestigious General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award personally presented by the Chief of Staff of the Army.  With more than 24 years of service, Colonel Perkins retired on December 31, 2005 after serving as the United States Special Operation Command's Director of Legislative Affairs in Washington DC. 

During the first year of his retirement in 2006, he was an independent contractor for the US Coast Guard hired to build their Maritime Security & Response Team (S.W.A.T.) given his experience commanding a special operations unit with similar capabilities.  Since then from 2007 to present, he has been self-employed as a defense and homeland security consultant. Chris and his wife Petra have two children and reside in Northern Virginia.  Their daughter, Alexandra, lives nearby and works for an architectural firm in Washington DC.  Their son, Nick, is a Cadet at the US Military Academy at West Point and will graduate in 2012.  Col Perkins remains very active with the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, a 501(c) (3) charitable organization that provides educational benefits to the surviving children of fallen Special Operators.  He is a member of the VFW, the American Legion, and the Fairfax County Republican Committee.
If you review Col Perkins’ positions on his Web site, you would be pleased with his stand; they agree with the Combat Veterans For Congress Mission Statement.  Col Perkins has been endorsed by General Doug Brown, USA (Ret), the former Commander, US Special Operations Command Central,  by Honorable Tom O’Connell, the former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict, and by the Combat Veterans For Congress PAC.  We look forward to working with Col Perkins and are pleased that a Combat Veteran of his caliber is running for Congress.  If you have friends, associates, or relatives who know voters in the 11th Congressional District of Virginia, kindly pass this endorsement on to them, and ask them to support Col Perkins by working in his campaign, providing financial support for his campaign in any amount, and/or by networking with others who would be willing to support his campaign.

The military is one of the few remaining institutions producing the caliber of men and women needed to restore this nation to the greatness our Founding Father envisioned. We have endorsed another Combat Veteran For Congress that General George Washington would have approved of.  A Veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable “to The United States of America” for an amount “up to and including his life.”