The Combat Veterans For Congress PAC is endorsing the 61st Combat Veteran For Congress; who is a fiscally conservative candidate who will work to rein in the out of control spending by the Obama Administration and Congress. He will work toward unleashing the private sector to grow once again, create jobs, and stimulate private sector business investment. Col Richard D. Killian, USAR, USMA ‘86 http://www.killianforcongress.com resides in the Ballantyne area of Charlotte, North Carolina, is a 26 year military veteran with service in the US Army and the US Army Reserve; he is running for election in an open seat in the 9th Congressional District of North Carolina.  Richard Killian was born in Kaukauna, Wisconsin on July 17, 1964, and graduated from Kaukauna High School in June 1982.  At age 17 Richard entered the US Military Academy at West Point, New York.  Cadet Killian graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree on May 28, 1986.  COL Killian graduated from the US Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, PA in July 2011 and received a Masters in Strategic Studies Degree.  

On May 28, 1986, Cadet Killian was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant Army Infantryman.  He was ordered to Army Airborne School at Fort Benning, Georgia and qualified for the Parachute Badge in August 1986.  Second Lieutenant Killian was next ordered to the Basic Infantry Officer’s Course; upon completion of training in 1987, was ordered to the US Army Ranger training; upon qualification he received the Ranger Tab and was ordered to duty at Fort Knox, NY on April 22, 1987 as a Platoon Leader in Company D, 4th Mechanized Battalion at Fort Knox, KY.  2nd Lt Killian was promoted to 1st LT on November 11, 1987, and subsequently served as Company D Executive Officer, then the Battalion Operations Officer (S3).   In November 1989, he was assigned to Brigade Headquarters as Brigade Plans Officer, then to Director of Plans on October 22, 1990; on December 1, 1990 he was promoted to Captain. CPT Killian resigned from active duty on August 20, 1991, and accepted the rank of Captain in the US Army Reserve.  On December 12, 1993, CPT Killian was assigned to duty at the US Military Academy Admissions Office at West Point, NY.

Captain Killian was promoted to Major on November 30, 1997.  After two years of study he graduated from Command & General Staff College in December 2000.  In 2001, he was assigned to Fort Belvoir, VA as the Special Assistant to the Commanding General of the US Army Security Assistance Command.  In January 2003 he was assigned Instructor duty in the Department of Military Affairs at the US Military Academy at West Point.  On May 3, 2004 Major Killian was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.  From May of 2005 to August 2009 Lieutenant Colonel Killian was assigned as a Political-Military  affairs Officer and a Plans Officer on the staff of the European Command in Stuttgart, Germany, while continuing to serve as the North Carolina State Coordinator of West Point admissions in Charlotte, NC.  On August 29, 2009, LTC Killian was recalled to active duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and deployed to Headquarters I Corps in Baghdad, Iraq as Chief of Operations (J7) responsible for all current engineering operations in Iraq.  Upon completion of active duty and return to CONUS on March 26, 2010, LTC Killian was awarded a Bronze Star Medal.  On May 17, 2011 Lt Col Killian was promoted to Colonel.   On September 24, 2011 COL Killian was recalled to active duty in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, and deployed to Headquarters, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul, Afghanistan; he was assigned as the Chief, Military Technical Agreement Branch, responsible for the Military Technical Agreements and the Joint Coordinating Body.  Upon completion of active duty and return to CONUS on March 15, 2012, Colonel Killian was awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal and the NATO Medal.  COL Killian is currently assigned to the office of the secretary of defense , and also continues to serve as the North Carolina State Field Force Commander, coordinating all West Point Admissions activity in North Carolina.  His military awards also include the Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Services Commendation Medal, the Army Commendation Medal (second award), Campaign Medals for Iraq & Afghanistan, and various service medals. 

Ric left active duty in 1991and began a career in real estate.  He is an entrepreneur who successfully invested in residential and commercial real estate in Wisconsin, Kentucky, North and South Carolina.  He also held leadership positions in both private and public homebuilding companies.  Ric has performed every task in residential development from construction roads to building houses.  In 2006, Ric was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives, representing District #105.  He serves as the Chairman of the Appropriations/Transportation Committee and the Homeland Security, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committees.  He built his reputation as a fiscal conservative who also champions efforts in support of Homeland Security, Veterans Affairs, the real estate industry, and motorcyclists.

Col Killian has been endorsed by Senator John McCain, the 67th Secretary of the Navy William L. Ball, III, and Former Federal Trade Commissioner and Asst. secretary of Commerce, Hon Orson Swindle, Lt Col-USMC (Ret) (Vietnam POW).   He is a member of the Knights of Columbus, the VFW, the NRA, the West Point Society of the Carolinas, and the American Legion.  Col Killian and his wife Debbi of 21 years have two daughters, Ashley 18 and Aubrey 16, and two sons, Richard, II, 14, and Marc 12; they attend the St Mathews Catholic Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.  

The Combat Veterans for Congress PAC is pleased to endorse COL Richard Killian, USAR who will bring to Congress extraordinary public sector and private sector skills and wisdom to better solve problems and represent his Congressional District and the Republic. If you review COL Killian’s positions on his Web site, you would be pleased with his stands; they agree with the Combat Veterans For Congress Mission Statement.  We look forward to working with COL Killian, 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 9th Congressional District of North Carolina, kindly pass this E-mail on to them, and ask them to support COL Killian 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 Fathers envisioned.  We have endorsed another Combat Veteran For Congress that General George Washington would have approved of.  He is a Veteran 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.”